Memoirs of the Emotionally Stupid
by nozomi.no.uta
Summary: Since being dragged into a girls' night with Kairi and Namine, all Imani remembers is floating on fire. AU, OC
1. When I Lose a Card Game

**Author's Comments: **Here I am again! I decided to try writing an AU and I couldn't resist including my OC, Imani. (For those who haven't read _The Kismet Scribe,_ no worries. All you need to know about Imani is explained in this story. Of course, I'm not discouraging you from reading _The Kismet Scribe_...) I hope you enjoy reading this! I have no idea where this is going or how long I'll keep up this project, but I'll do my best to see it through to the end. I hope you see it through to the end, too!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do own Imani.

* * *

Kairi huffs, her breath dissipating quickly in the frigid air. "Stop dragging your feet, Imani. You promised you wouldn't sulk."

I shove my numb fingers into my coat pockets and my frown deepens. "I didn't promise that."

"You _did_, liar." Her reddish-purple hair fans out momentarily as she turns to Namine. "She promised, didn't she?"

Our blonde quiet companion nods, giving me a small apologetic smile. "You did. You remember."

I scowl. _Of all the times to remind me of my insanely accurate memory..._

"We're having a girl's night out, whether you like it or not," Kairi declares. "You lost the card game last night—"

"Because you pulled Luxord into the game at the last second!"

"You still can't complain. We're having a girl's night out."

"I'm not complaining about _that_," I sigh, the air scraping like fingernails pressed tightly together and traveling up and down my throat. "What I don't understand is why we're _here_."

Both Namine and Kairi glance over their shoulders at the pristine entrance to Radiant Garden, the glitziest salon in town.

Pardon my shudder of disgust.

"What's hard to understand?" Kairi whips her head back to me. "We're here to get ready for tonight, silly."

"Why can't we get ready at home?" I protest. "You've always done that before."

She waves her hand dismissively. "That was only for parties."

"But we're going to a party tonight—"

"This isn't just any party, Imani. This is—"

"Kairi," Namine interrupts softly. "Don't ruin the surprise."

I quirk an eyebrow. "Surprise? What're you talking about?"

They flick their identical blue eyes to me, suspicious smiles on their faces. "Nothing."

Before I can claim otherwise, Kairi grabs my arm and yanks me to the glass front door.

* * *

"Welcome to Radiant Garden. How may I help you?"

I gape at the receptionist. _You could tell me what possessed you to think of styling your hair in such a way that you mask half your face_.

Namine checks us in while Kairi gushes over the "totally chic" atmosphere of the salon. "The best part is that Luxord works here!" she giggles. "We get discount and I hear the workers here are hot!"

_Whatever._ I shake my head. _A discount at a salon, no matter how great, is _not_ worth my free veg-out day for the week._

"Would you like to stick together as you move ot the different stations?" the receptionist—Zexion, according to his shiny nametag—asks with mild boredom.

"No," I tell him.

"YES!" Kairi exclaims.

"Whatever will work best on a timed schedule," Namine answers. "We're attending a party tonight at seven so we'd like to finish here by five."

Zexion nods, his silvery-blue bangs swaying just the slightest. "It'd be best if you moved separately, then. Our workers have other customers to attend to as well, so we can fit you with whoever is available."

Kairi's lower lip emerges in a pout. "I want to see Imani get gussied up."

"Too bad." I smirk.

"I can place one of you at the manicurist's table, one at the massage chair, and one at the hair stylist," he informs us, scanning his visible eye over a computer screen. "Please decide among yourselves where you'd like to go."

"Massage!" Kairi's hand shoots up.

"Who's the hair stylist?" Namine asks.

Zexion blinks owlishly before responding, "Luxord."

"I'll start with him then," she smiles.

_That leaves the manicurist's table._ I sigh. _Great._

He steps out from behind the marble counter. "Please follow me, ladies."

* * *

"Nitrocellulose-based lacquers last longer than water-based lacquers but water-based lacquers are more environmentally-friendly. However, the nail absorbs some of the water in water-based lacquers—"

Vexen, the blond longhaired manicurist, coats my nails in translucent goo as he talks. Stifling a yawn, I glance over to the clock again and nearly groan. Only a minute has passed since I last checked? I'd have thought at least ten minutes had gone by...

His two thick strands of bangs sway with his every move and almost touch my wet nails. "Tosylamide-formaldehyde resin and stearalkonium hecorite—"

_Does he like hearing himself talk?_

Without wasting breath, he unscrews the tube cap of a small pink bottle and expertly withdraws the applicator. "Two coats gives the color more—"

A low rumble of a laugh travels to my ears. I shift my eyes to the line of vanity tables and mirrors where Luxord runs his hands through Namine's flaxen hair. Both seem to be enjoying themselves...

I'm sure Kairi's having fun, too. Who doesn't enjoy a massage?

My lips twist into a frown. _This is what I get for speaking up last, I guess._

"…while ultraviolet stabilizers like benozophenone-1..."

* * *

Kairi sighs in content _again_ and adjusts her pink terry cloth robe. "Oh, Imani, you're going to _love_ it. His hands are like _magic_."

I flex my fingers, trying to adjust to the added weight on my nails. "Who did you say you had?"

"Lexaeus." She nods to the tall built man with brown wavy hair.

I refer to the schedule on the door to my assigned massage room. "I think I'm with someone named Larxene."

"That would be me." A petite woman grins, her antenna-like bangs bobbing as she steps forward. "You're Imani?"

I don't like the sounds she makes when she cracks her knuckles like that.

"Right this way," she says, holding the door open.

"See you later, Imani." Kairi waves. "I'm headed over to Luxord."

Larxene shuts the door and presents the massage table with a flourish. "Take off the robe, put on the towel, and lie down on your stomach. I'll be right back."

I watch her leave the room completely before snatching the white towel and hurriedly wrapping it around my body. That smirk she wore sent chills down my spine.

_Kairi seemed like she really enjoyed this,_ I concede as I get on the table. _I guess I could try enjoying it, too..._

"Now, Miss Imani," Larxene purrs behind my back, "I just need you to _relax_..."

* * *

Namine's face scrunches strangely at me. She pushes a wavy strand of hair aside and peers closely. "Are you alright, Imani?"

I nod as little as I can out of fear my head will loll and collapse onto one of my shoulder. All my muscles feel like jelly. I could've sworn that massage girl was trying to send jolts of lightning down my spine.

"Are you sure you're okay? You look so…_stiff_."

"I'm fine," I mutter quickly, kicking out my completely straight legs in an attempt to walk out to the hair station. If I bend my knees, I think my legs will fall out under me and I won't be able to get back up.

"How was your massage?" Namine asks, flicking her glossy pink fingers in anticipation. "I'm supposed to be with someone named Lexaeus…"

Biting back a growl of frustration, I plaster a smile on my face as I walk past. Thank goodness Larxene didn't "massage" my face. "I'm sure you'll be just fine, then. Kairi really liked him. His hands are like _magic…_"

"Miss?" a male voice calls. I glance up to find a blond spiky-haired boy in black clothes (just like that receptionist Zexion) power-walking towards me. "Do you need help?"

"I'm fine," I repeat. "The chair is right there…"

"Let me help." He takes hold of my arm and wraps it around his neck, half-carrying me to one of the swiveling chairs in front of one of the wall of mirrors. "Did you just come from a massage session with Larxene?"

I shoot him a look out of the corner of my eye. "How'd you guess?"

He sets me down gently in the chair. "She's new. She hasn't quite mastered 'the touch' that Lexaeus has." The boy grimaces. "I had to help her practice last week and I couldn't walk for days."

A chuckle escapes my lips. "I see. Thanks for your help…" My eyes dart to his nametag. "Roxas."

Roxas nods politely. "Your hair stylist should be with you shortly."

I watch him return to the front desk through the mirror before allowing my eyelids to drop. This entire thing has been so _exhausting_. I'm too tired to do anything else. I wouldn't be surprised if I fell asleep at the party tonight…

"Would you prefer taking a nap before I start?"

My eyes open drowsily. Arms crossed and smirking without shame, Luxord cocks an eyebrow at me. "If I start now, you can't sleep until after the party tonight. You'll ruin the look otherwise."

A corner of my mouth tugs upward in a lopsided grin. "Just get it over with. If I fall asleep later, I fall asleep. I couldn't care less."

Chuckling under his breath, he rakes his fingers over my scalp experimentally. "You'll care about your appearance tonight more than you ever have before. In fact, you'll care so much you'll do whatever you must to keep yourself awake."

"Such strong predictions," I note suspiciously. "Care to tell me what I _don't_ know about tonight?"

"Not particularly," he says. "You know enough to know what you need to know."

I snort. "All I know is that I lost a bet—because of _you,_ by the way—and now I'm going through all this just for some party tonight."

Luxord laughs heartily, removing his fingers and reaching for a comb. "All is true, but you're thinking too narrowly."

"Too narrowly?" My forehead creases.

He shakes his head and purses his lips, running the comb through my hair.

* * *

Slim pale fingers guide the ballpoint pen swiftly across the receipt. "Did you give everyone their tips, Kairi?" Namine asks.

"Yup!" Stray strands of hair sway violently as she nods. Her manicured fingers count off the names. "Lexaeus, Larxene, Vexen, and Luxord, right?"

My own fingers fumble with the bills as I place them on the smooth counter and push them towards Roxas. "That's for you and Zexion."

Roxas gives the bills a funny look. "For what?"

"For putting up with us all day." I smile. "And for helping me earlier."

He accepts the receipt from Namine and flashes me a grateful smile. "Wow, thanks."

We gather our things and exit the salon. _Finally. _The brisk air caresses my face as we take off down the street to our tiny car.

"He likes you, Namine," I tell her. "Right, Kairi?"

Namine, puzzled, glances between the two of us. "Who?"

"That receptionist, of course!" Kairi squeals. "Roxas!"

Red creeps onto her cheeks. "Him? What makes you so sure?"

"He flinched slightly when he touched your hand," I explain, weaving between our car and another to get to the other side. "When you were handing him the receipt."

"Plus, he couldn't keep his eyes off of you!" Kairi jams the key into the car and opens the doors. "We'll be visiting Radiant Garden again soon, I'm sure! Right, Imani?"

I swing my door open, rolling my eyes. "As long as Larxene doesn't give me a massage again."

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **I think I made my OC a little out of character. Haha, oh well. She's mine--I can do whatever I need to with her. Please leave a review!


	2. When My Best Friend's Band Comes Home

**Author's Comments: **Did I happen to mention this is my first AU? Did I also mention that I learned that I don't do too well wtih AUs? After much blanking-out, here's chapter 2. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

After Kairi spends an hour fussing over what she wants to wear and finally settles for a black halter-top and a pair of skinny jeans, we leave the apartment, our high heels clacking noisily against the tile floor.

"Who's the DD?" Kairi fishes around in her silver clutch for her car keys.

"I volunteer." Once more I tug down the short skirt of the maroon spaghetti-strap dress Kairi picked out for me. "You always force Namine to be DD."

Namine, dressed in a simple navy blue dress and a white jacket, smiles sweetly. "Thanks for thinking of me, but I think I should be DD tonight. Tonight's really about _you_."

"Me?" The car beeps and the doors unlock with a click.

"Yeah, you!" We scramble into the car and Kairi revs up the engine. "Half the time you're studying, the other half you're working. You need a break, hun."

"Where are we going again?" I ask as Kairi pulls out of the parking stall.

They both grin at me from the front. "You'll see."

Sure, Kairi and Namine are cousins, but they could seriously pass as twins with their identical looks. I know Kairi has taken Namine along to some parties just because she gets in free if she's a twin.

"Can't you give me a hint?" I plead.

"You don't need a hint." Kairi winks. "You can figure it out on your own."

With a huff, I turn to glare out the window at the passing city. My eyebrows twitch upward in surprise as I watch the three biggest clubs in Hollow Bastion—including Lady Luck, Kairi's favorite—zoom by. I tell Kairi this, a bit concerned.

I can hear the smile in her voice as she answers, "I know."

_Where is she taking us? _I rack my brain for anything I heard that could be happening tonight. _There isn't anything big happening outside town, right? No concerts, no college events…?_

My eyes pop open. "Wait! That new club at Hotel Agrabah! Three Wishes!"

Both Kairi and Namine laugh. "She figured out part of it," Namine giggled.

The burst of confidence I had disappears. "_Part_ of it?" I sputter. "What's the rest?"

"Just _wait,_ Imani." Kairi rolls her eyes good-naturedly. "We're here anyway."

She pulls up in front of a tall sand-colored building. The valet rushes over to the driver's side as we get out and head to the automatic glass doors. I only get to glimpse the ornate purple and blue carpet and the gold toned furniture before my sight plunges into darkness.

"Hey! What the heck are you doing?" I cry.

"Just keep walking," Kairi says, her voice inches away from my ear.

Several times I stumble on my heels on our way, making Kairi and Namine laugh even more. Eventually we come to a stop and I feel the elevator lift us. Neither girl will give me any more hints—only giggles.

Suddenly Kairi pushes me out the elevator and onto the tile floor of what I assume is the entrance to the new club. "We're VIP," she says.

"VIP?" I frown.

If Kairi keeps laughing like this, I'll have to assume she's already drunk. "I'm not talking to _you_, silly!"

"Follow me, please," a foreign voice says and the three of us start walking again.

"You ready for this, Imani?" Kairi asks, excitement bubbling with every word she speaks.

She stops and slowly removes her hands. I blink several times to clear away the blurriness and bring my surroundings into focus…

"Hey, Imani." A man with dirty-blond hair half-up in a mohawk and half-down in a mullet grins lopsidedly at me, his blue eyes twinkling.

Instantly a huge smile spreads across my face and I run into his open arms. "Demyx!"

His chest rumbles with laughter as he hugs me tightly. "Miss me?"

"Of course!" I mumble into his white dress shirt. "I'd be insane if I didn't miss my best friend."

"Melodious Nocturne is playing a super-secret concert here tonight for the invitation-only soft opening," Kairi chimes in.

Pulling away, I glare up at him and demand, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming home a week early?"

"I wanted to surprise you," he shrugs. "We all thought it'd be a good idea."

"A _crazy _idea, you mean." Kairi sighs. "You have no idea how careful we had to be this week. Imani's observation skills are scary."

"We had a couple of close-calls," Namine admits with a small smile.

"You girls pulled it off, though." Demyx tugs me into another big hug. "'Operation: Surprise Imani' was a success!"

"Where's everyone else?" I ask.

"Sora's checking the sound systems with Leon, Riku's tuning his guitar, Xaldin's setting up his drums, and Xigbar and Cloud are getting dressed in the back." Demyx pulls back, shooting me an apologetic smile. "I have to start warming up, too."

"We'll talk more later," I tell him.

He nods and heads out the dressing room. "Make sure you girls get good spots to watch us!"

Once he leaves, I pounce. "So Kairi…_Sora's _here too."

"Oh, shut up." A blush darkens her cheeks. "I know."

"Is _that_ why we went to Radiant Garden today?" I snicker. "You wanted to look good for him, didn't you?"

"No!" she exclaims, thoroughly flustered. "I wanted _you_ to look good tonight!"

"Right." Namine and I share a glance that knows otherwise.

"I'm serious!" She fidgets with her clutch. "I mean…okay, _fine_. I did want to look nice for him…but you! _You're_ going to meet someone really great tonight!"

"Says who?" I quirk an eyebrow.

"She went to Esmeralda and had her foresee your future behind your back," Namine explains. "Your _love_ future."

My eyes roll. "Oh jeez."

"Her predictions come true, you know!" Kairi insists. "Esmeralda's been telling my fortunes for a year now and they've always been correct!"

"It's a psychological thing, Kairi."

"Oh really? Then tell me what's psychological about getting paid a hundred munny for safely returning a cell phone to a man who'd lost it the other day! Esmerelda predicted I'd earn sudden riches."

"That's pure coincidence—"

"And tell me what's psychological about Namine meeting Roxas today! Esmeralda said she'd meet her soulmate today, you know."

"K-Kairi!" Namine's face turns a bright red.

"I _refuse_ to have this conversation." I shake my head, my curly dark hair bobbing as I leave the room. "Come on, Namine."

Namine fumbles with her dress and follows. Kairi shouts after me, "You're going to meet someone really special tonight! I'm _telling_ you!"

* * *

"Thank you and good night!"

The crowd cheers loudly as Demyx and the rest retreat to the back with their guitars (and sitar). My throat feels hoarse from screaming but adrenaline pumps through my veins.

Immediately dance music fills the silence and the audience disperses to get more drinks or start dancing. "Where'd Kairi go?" I shout to Namine.

"Sora," she answers. "Luxord texted me and said he was here. I'm going to go find him."

I nod and watch her weave amidst the crowd. Demyx will probably take a while to rest backstage so I guess I'll go get something to drink.

Steadily I move towards the bar and hoist myself onto one of the stools. "Shirley Temple," I tell the bartender.

"Put hers on my tab."

I peek out the corner of my eye at a burly man leaning on the counter and sending me an overconfident smirk. "Aren't you going to thank me?" he asks.

Dilated pupils. Slurred speech. Breath that reeks of alcohol. _He's drunk._

"Thanks but no thanks," I respond curtly.

"Why so stiff?" He leans closer to me, his hand reaching out to touch my arm—

"Don't touch my girl."

A very warm pair of arms winds around me in a protective embrace. "Move along, buddy," a taunting, almost sultry voice bids the drunken man. "She doesn't want you here. Neither do I, for that matter."

The man looks over whoever it is that's hugging me and stumbles away with a scowl just as my Shirley Temple is set before me.

The pair of arms slithers away from me. "You're welcome," the voice drawls.

I whip my head over my shoulder and my eyes widen. A tall man dressed in a dark shirt and pants with bright red wild hair peers down at me. Teardrop tattoos sit under the greenest eyes I've ever seen. His entire body sticks out in sharp angles—even his smirk seems to be able to slice thin air.

"T-Thanks," I murmur.

A chuckle creeps past his thin lips as he takes a seat next to me. "You can put hers on my tab," he says across the counter. "And I want a beer."

The dance music pulses through the room and into the silence between us. I sip on my drink, the awkwardness of the whole situation clenching my chest.

"You new in town?" the man next to me asks.

I shake my head without turning to look at him.

"Huh. I've never seen you at any other parties before."

One shoulder shrugs, the straw between my teeth being bent this way and that.

"Hey."

Warm breath splays across my ear. Cautiously I inch my eyes to meet his acidic green ones. "Yes?"

"It's rude to hold a conversation without looking at the person you're talking to, you know," he says, staring at me unashamedly. "Especially considering the person possibly saved you from being molested."

My mouth opens and closes like a fish but no words come out.

"Shall we start again?" He offers his hand. "Axel. Commit it to memory."

_"Commit it to memory?"_ _The nerve._

Swallowing an incredulous laugh, I reach out to take his hand. "Imani."

Calloused fingertips brush against my palm as he grasps my hand. A surge of heat courses up my arm and to my chest…into my heart…

"Axel!"

The heat lingers even after he's let go. Axel's grin widens when he catches sight of Demyx. "What's up, man? You guys killed tonight."

"Thanks," Demyx laughs, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "I see you met Imani already."

All I can think of is his warmth…his fingertips…Kairi's words…

"Yeah, but she's been clamming up to me," Axel snickers.

_"You're going to meet someone really special tonight! I'm _telling_ you!"_

"Aw, she's just shy. She's a real sweetheart once you get to know her."

_Someone…special…_

"Maybe to you she is. You've known her your entire life."

_Special…someone _special…

"Imani?"

I snap out of my thoughts and flash Demyx a quick smile. "You did great up there."

He blinks in confusion. "Um, thanks? You okay?"

"Yep!" I nod, shoving the straw back into my mouth and sucking up the rest of my drink. "So how do you two know each other?"

The two share a look before Axel purrs, "Oh, Demyx and I go _way_ back."

Demyx rolls his eyes. "We were roommates during the two years I was at HBU. Right before you started going there."

I flip through my memory, trying to remember anything Demyx said about the time he was in college…and my stomach lurches.

"Wait," I sputter, my eyes widening. "You mean _you're_ the roommate who was always forcing Demyx to sleep in Leon's dorm because you kept bringing back a different girl nearly every week?"

His thin eyebrows shoot up. "Wow, Dem. Didn't know you were complaining about me _that_ much."

Anger boils in my blood. "So it _was_ you!"

"Imani, calm down. It's all in the past." Demyx squeezes my shoulders. "Axel's a really cool guy."

"Were you aware of how hard it is for Demyx to fall asleep in new places?" I demand. "I've known Demyx my whole life and it took him at least a year to easily fall asleep at my house."

"Well he didn't mention having trouble sleeping." Axel shrugs, holding his hands up defensively.

"Yeah, because you _kicked him out_ every night! He had _plenty_ more opportunities to get used to sleeping in Leon's room."

"It wasn't _every _night. None of the girls I nailed could last _every _night."

"You shameless—"

"Oh-kay, let's not talk about this anymore," Demyx swiftly intervenes, holding me down in my seat before I punch his thin face. "Hey Imani, Sora and Riku wanted to catch up with you. Why don't you go find them?"

"Sora's busy staring at Kairi and Riku's caught up dealing with his fangirls," I bite out, glaring at Axel's annoying smirk.

"Then go hang out with Xigbar." With gentle force he pushes me away from the bar. "He's in that back corner."

After taking one final moment to burn away Axel's eyes so that only his sockets remain, I spin on my heel and stomp to the other side of the room.

And trip.

I nearly fall flat on my face but a warm arm wraps around my waist just in time. "Watch your step, princess."

His sultry—it is _not_ sultry, it's irritating!—voice and his breath on my ear sends shivers down my spine. Roughly slapping away his arm, I resume my stomping until I join Xigbar in a booth with Namine and Luxord and…_Roxas…_

For a split-second my rage simmers into curiosity. _Roxas _is here. With _Namine._

"Hey, kiddo." Xigbar waves as I slump into the space next to him. "How's it going?"

"Fine," I answer distractedly, glancing between Roxas and Namine and giving Luxord a questioning look.

"Something the matter?" Xigbar asks casually.

"It's nothing," I mutter.

Luxord winks. "So, Imani," he begins, "Kairi was telling me about her visit with Esmerelda."

Oh yeah. _Axel. _My anger boils back up again.

"You're supposed to meet someone really special tonight, right?"

I need a drink. A _real _drink. Like vodka.

"I thought I saw you in the arms of a particularly attractive man earlier. Did you find your special someone?"

Something that'll make me forget meeting that jerk.

"You mean Demyx's old roommate?" Xigbar bursts in laughter and nearly spills his drink all over himself. "You always did attract the quirky ones, huh, Imani?"

Is Xigbar drinking vodka?

"So what'd you think of him?" Namine asks, sipping her Shirley Temple. "His name is Axel, right? Could he be that really special someone?"

I snatch the shot glass in Xigbar's hand and down the contents. The liquid burns my throat and my eyes tear up. _Yeah. Vodka._

Xigbar and Luxord burst in laughter again. Roxas chuckles too while Namine's eyes widen in shock.

Slamming down the shot glass, I glare at the redhead still sitting at the bar with Demyx. My head spins with alcohol. "Him? Puh-leez. 'Special' my _ass_."

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **Heh, Imani's mouth unhinges when she gets drunk, I guess. Please review! Thanks for reading!


	3. When I Drink Someone Else's Vodka

**Author's Comments: **So sorry for the late update to this story! I've been really busy with work lately and my ideas weren't flowing into words as easily as I'd hoped. Thank you for the wait and please enjoy reading!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

An elderly woman places her food-laden black plastic plate onto the marble counter. "Excuse me," she says with a hint of annoyance, "I wanted _potato_ salad instead of macaroni salad."

Groaning mentally, I take the plate and apologize as nicely as I can before turning back to the salad bar. This has to be the fourth order I've screwed up today. The sharp pounding in my skull distracts me far worse than I can tolerate.

My co-worker, a dark-haired girl with a gentle demeanor, scurries to my side and reaches for the tossed salad tongs. "You forgot the side salad completely on this one," she mutters.

I sigh tiredly. "Great. I'm so sorry, Olette."

"Maybe you should take a break after you correct that order," she suggests as she carefully arranges bits of lettuce next to her turkey panini. "You've been out of it since before your shift started."

With a clang I return the macaroni salad spoon to its bowl. "You sure?"

She smiles kindly, taking the plate from my gloved hand. "Yeah. Selphie and I can handle it. Go take five."

Flashing a thankful smile, I retreat to the back prep room where Tifa, my boss and the head chef, slices some apples for back-up batches of fruit salad. She glances my way and her gaze softens. "Having a rough day, Imani?"

"Why do you ask?" I collapse into a creaky plastic chair, peeling off the skin-tight gloves and tossing them into a nearby trash bin.

"You look like crap."

"I _feel_ like crap." My fingers press into my temples, trying to massage the ache away. "Do you have painkillers?"

"Check the cabinet above the sink." As I trudge over, she asks curiously, "So what were you up to last night? You're never this disoriented when you pull all-nighters _studying_."

I reach up to open the cabinet door and bang my forehead hard. Cursing under my breath, I scan the shelf groggily. "Demyx's band came home a week early and played at that new club in Hotel Agrabah."

She laughs incredulously, "You went to a _club _last night?"

I snatch the aspirin bottle and unscrew the cap. "I lost a card game," I growl, "so Kairi and Namine made me spend the day at a salon and then _dragged_ me to Three Wishes."

"A salon _and_ a club?" The rapid _ka-ka-ka_'s of Tifa's knife chopping away ceases. "Sounds like Luxord was involved. I'm guessing the aspirin is for a hangover?"

"I didn't intend to drink. I'd volunteered to be the DD before I even knew where we were going." The faucet squeaks as I turn the water on and fill up a plastic cup. "Things came up."

"Like?"

"Like Demyx's obnoxious former roommate."

Another laugh from Tifa bounces off the walls. "So someone pissed you off and you drank?"

"It was only one sip," I protest through the pills in my mouth.

"Of what?" She appears out of the corner of my eye with a playfully skeptical look.

I swallow the cup of water before mumbling, "Vodka."

She laughs louder, shaking her head. "You did _not_ get that hangover off of one sip of vodka."

"I know," I grumble. "Kairi and Namine kept giving me these looks as I was leaving."

She resumes chopping. "What'd you do?"

"I would've asked someone if I had time. I woke up late." The smile on Tifa's face grows bigger as I return the pill bottle to the cabinet and drag my feet back to the creaky chair. "I can't remember anything after Xigbar's vodka."

"Sounds like you had a pretty intense night," she comments, wiping her hands on her apron after scooping the apple slices into a ceramic bowl. "You know what you need right now? One of Olette's chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies."

A tired smile tugs at my lips. "You mean the ones she 'burned'?"

Tifa rolls her eyes. "Okay, they're not _burned. _Not by normal definition, anyway."

"Then why'd you make her do another batch?" I ask with a laugh.

"Because the first batch will _taste_ burned," she explains, half-bowing to emphasize her words. "The cookies have to have a certain taste and a certain texture—"

"Okay, I get it," I cut her off, getting up once again to search for the abandoned batch.

She insists, "They taste better when they don't taste even a _little_ burned."

"Yes, yes, they do," I agree distractedly. My eyes light up as I catch sight of the pan of darker-than-usual discs of sweet goodness.

Tifa shakes her head. "_This_ is why you're not majoring in culinary arts. You don't understand these little details."

"Of course I understand." I grab a cookie and take a small bite, the crisp texture tickling my tongue pleasantly for a moment before melting in my mouth.

"Eat your cookie and get back to work," she orders playfully.

* * *

Four hours, two cookies, and three cups of coffee later, I tug the strings of my apron and shove it into my bag as I wave goodbye to Olette and Selphie. "Make sure you use up the last of that bowl of tossed salad," I call over my shoulder.

"Go home already," Selphie teases. "I'll text you about that study session tomorrow night."

"Okay." I turn around to face the café exit and nearly slam my face into someone's chest. "Oh! Sorry," I quickly apologize and step to the side.

"Wow. You really _are_ out of whack today."

My ears perk at the gentle voice. "Demyx!" I widen my eyes in shock.

"About time you noticed I was here." He frowns, the leather of his jacket squeaking slightly as he crosses his arms. "I've been sitting in that corner by the window for the past ten minutes."

"You have?" Instantly guilt slithers into my skin. "I'm so sorry, Dem," I sigh, rubbing my eyes exhaustedly. "Were you waiting for me?"

"Kinda," he shrugs. "I was hoping we could grab lunch somewhere before you run off to your classes."

"Lunch?" I repeat, glancing at the clock on the wall. "It's three-thirty."

"That's usually when I remember to eat lunch," he admits sheepishly.

"I ate already."

"Then come with me and keep me company."

"You're asking me to come with you to watch you eat even though I'm not hungry at all?"

He offers his arm with a big smile and puppy dog eyes. "Please?"

I can only manage to stare him down for a few seconds before I cave in and loop my arm around his. "You're terrible boyfriend material, you know."

"At least I'm not making you pay," he argues.

I smirk. "Not _anymore._"

Demyx holds open the café door for me. "I probably owe you over a hundred munny for all the times you bought my lunch at school," he laughs.

"You'd flip if I told you how much munny you owe." I hook arms as soon as he lets go of the door.

His blue eyes quiver with nervousness. "Do I owe you _more?_"

I quirk an eyebrow. "Do you really want to know?"

He shifts those eyes left and right, weighing his options in his head. "…Tell me," he finally says.

I pause to drown him in suspense before declaring, "Five hundred thirty two munny, not including the six times you made me chip in for CDs you wanted to buy but had too little munny to afford."

Demyx gapes openly as I reach across to push the icy crosswalk button. "Not! I can't owe you _that_ much on lunch munny alone—"

"I added bus munny and late library book fees and the time you broke Cloud's bass guitar when he was away at camp—"

"Jeez, Imani. Your memory is _scary._"

I furrow my brows. "I'm not making you pay me back, you know."

He nearly trips on the curb out of shock. "You're not? How come?"

I drag him across the street, smiling up at him. "Because that isn't what best friends do."

Another moment of shock almost makes him stumble, but soon he tackles me in a big hug. "This is why I love you, Imani. You never forget how to make me smile."

As we meet the sidewalk, my smile melts into a troubled frown. "I can't remember what happened last night, though."

The tight grip of his arms slackens. "Oh. Last night."

"What's with that tone?" I pull out of his grasp and turn to face him. "Do _you_ remember?"

"Uh…" His eyes flit around everywhere…anywhere but on me. "What if I…did?"

"Tell me!" I demand, leaning forward.

Those eyes suddenly light up at something he sees to my right. "Ooh! Let's eat here!"

"Demyx!" He hurries into my favorite hole-in-the-wall diner, Timeless River. "Tell me!"

"I haven't been here in ages! Do they still serve those super huge mushroom burgers?"

* * *

He moans in delight, licking his lips. "God, I missed this."

"Are you done eating yet?" I sigh.

"Don't rush me. I haven't had a burger this good in _ages._"

"Then talk while you eat," I order, swishing around the ice in my glass of water. "Tell me what happened."

He swallows another bite slowly, studying me with curiosity. "Do you really want to know?" he asks the same way I had earlier.

_Uh oh. He's giving me a _look_._

Demyx is, understandably, a popular guy—he's friendly, easy to get along with, and holds a strong belief in personal hygiene. With many friends come many gossip topics, and Demyx has always been the center of information. When he knows something someone else doesn't, he gives these complicated but comprehendible looks.

Dread crawls into my chest and seizes my heart. _This is the first time _I'm_ at the receiving end of one of his looks._

Ignoring my growing anxiety, I nod. "Tell me."

He smirks and instantly the tendrils of my fear constrict tightly like tiny snakes. "Should I tell you about how vodka isn't the best drink for a pissed-off busybody who never goes clubbing and never drinks? Or maybe you want to hear about the little hilarious habits you pick up when you drink?"

"Just get on with it!" I slam down my glass. "Tell me everything that happened since after I drank Xigbar's vodka shot. _Everything._ If you skip anything I'll find out and—"

"Calm down, Imani. No need to freak out on me." He rolls his eyes. "Nothing _bad_ happened."

"Oh, don't give me that," I cry out. "You thought cutting your own hair in middle school wasn't bad."

"It wasn't! It turned out great!" he declares.

"Only because I cleaned it up for you!" A dull ache begins to throb in my left temple. "It was a miracle I was able to fix that disaster of a bird's nest you caused into something fairly decent…and it's a mystery why you _still_ style your hair that way."

"The fans _love_ my hair. I know you do, too."

My lips twist into a frown. "It's strangely appealing, I guess, but…AHH! We're off topic! You distracted me!"

A mischievous gleam brightens his smile. "I didn't do anything. You were the one who mentioned the haircut."

I slump, my hands cradling my head. "You're killing me, Demyx."

"I told you—nothing bad happened." He reaches across the small table and touches my arm reassuringly. "It's not like you slept with Axel or—"

"EWW!" I shrink back from his touch, scrunching my face into a grimace. "Bad visual! Bad visual!"

"Quiet down, sugar!" a low, slightly nasal female voice calls from the back kitchen. "Horace is tryin' to fix the stove!"

I nibble my lip. "Sorry, Clarabelle!"

Demyx wrinkles his brow. "I thought you said they got a new stove a few months ago?"

"They did, but—No! Stop changing the subject!"

"I'm not! I'm just asking!"

"And how dare you even come up with the idea of me sleeping with Axel!" I hiss. "The notion is as insane as playing paintball against Xigbar!"

He nods once. "Insane? Yes. Impossible? Not exactly."

"Ex-_cuse_ me?" I blink incredulously. "That arrogant Casanova was stripping me of my patience quicker than ten of Riku's fangirls fainting when he winks at them."

His fingers rub against each other, rolling around the crumbs from his burger. "You _almost_ did sleep with him, you know. Seriously."

A laugh bursts halfway out of my mouth. "What do you mean 'almost'? I drank Xigbar's vodka to avoid even _thinking_ about him."

Demyx sighs and leans forward over the remnants of his burger and fries. "Imani," he starts, staring at me gravely, "you know how I suddenly nuzzle people a _lot_ when I'm really drunk?"

"Your alcohol habit," I confirm. "Right. What of it?"

That look—the "I know something you don't and I think it's hilarious but I also kind of feel sorry for you…but not really" look—comes back. "You've got one, too."

"One what?"

"An alcohol habit."

"Well doesn't everybody?" I ask, tilting my head to one side. "Kairi demands piggy-back rides, Riku develops a finger fetish, Sora jumps on the tables and kicks everything off…So?"

"You give lap-dances."

My jaw drops. "Lap…"

"Dances," he finishes. "To _everyone._ Regardless of gender. Or whether they're sitting down. Or recent arguments."

I gape, my mind reeling and my heart sinking. I want to tell him he's lying and to deny doing such a thing and to pretend I'm _not_ hearing what I think he's implying…

"You're not bad, to be honest," he says, a hint of a laugh in his voice. "You kept Axel's attention the entire time you danced on him. That's saying something."

Finally my whole body slackens and my head falls to the table with a loud thud. "Crap."

"I think Luxord taped the whole thing on his cell phone…"

* * *

**Author's Afterthought:** A few personal experiences slipped in there. I really was out of it one day at work this past week. I really did "burn" the batch of cookies I was baking. I really do eat sugar and drink coffee to keep going through work. I _don't_ give lap-dances or climb onto tables and kick off whatever's on it or demand piggy-back rides or develop finger fetishes or nuzzle a lot when I'm drunk. (I'd like to think I wouldn't do any of that, anyway...)

Please review! Thanks for reading! Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to complete.


	4. When My Best Friend Doesn't Tell All

**Author's Comments: **Thank you for waiting! Here's the fourth, and I've kind of started on the fifth already. Hope you enjoy reading this!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Even though I've been forgetting to claim her for the past two chapters, I _do_ own Imani.

* * *

The bell rings and the sounds of scraping chairs and shuffling bags erupt. "Your analysis of case study four on page three-hundred-twenty-six is due tomorrow," Professor Aerith reminds us. "I expect at least a five-page report from each of you."

She bids us goodnight and begins gathering her own belongings. Stuffing my pencil case into my bag, I grab my books and head out the door sluggishly, glancing at the clock on my way out. _Darn. Radiant Garden closed half an hour ago. I hope Luxord hasn't already posted the video on--_

My cell phone vibrates in my jacket. Once I see Namine's number on the screen, I flip it open and slap it to my ear. "Hey Namine. Did you guys eat yet?"

"Yeah. We got take-out for you from Yuffie's."

My stomach growls with the thought of fried rice and orange chicken. "Yum! Thanks."

"We got you dessert from that bakery across the street, too."

_Dinner _and _dessert? Namine only gets me both on the same occasion when she's feeling guilty._

A smile creeps onto my face. "Demyx told me what happened last night."

A pause follows my words. "He did, did he?"

"Namine, you didn't do anything wrong. I was the one who got drunk and started acting weird," I reassure her. "Stop beating yourself up over nothing."

"I was going to tell you earlier, Imani, but you were in such a rush—"

"It's fine. I'll be home in a little bit." I hang up before she says anything more and slip the phone into my coat pocket. _I'll ask her where I can find Luxord later…_

Students scatter across the campus courtyard to their dorms. The chilly air caresses my face as I power-walk to the front door of my own dorm. Burying my nose beneath my scarf, I unzip my bag to search for my cardkey—

Wait.

I whip my head up from my bag and search the area. I thought I saw a flash of _red_…

"_Axel. Commit it to memory."_

With more eagerness I shift the contents in my bag and nearly dump everything onto the pavement just to find the stupid key. Once my fingertips touch plastic, I jam the key down the scanner and yank the door open the moment I hear the confirmation beep. I dash down the hall and to the elevator, hiding behind a wall and out of sight from the wide windows lining the lobby.

_No way,_ I groan. _There's no way I could've seen _him_ here. He's too old to be in college. If Demyx hadn't landed that recording contract, he'd have graduated with his Bachelor's by now. That guy's probably the same grade level as Demyx and he can't be dedicated enough to want to spend more money studying in a graduate-level program—_

Ding.

As soon as the doors open a few inches, I squeeze and scramble into the empty elevator and push the buttons repeatedly with so much force I just might permanently lodge them further into the wall. Only after the doors slide closed do I allow my breath to flow out of my lungs in a sigh of relief. _It never hurts to be too careful._

* * *

"What's up with you?" Kairi asks, peering at me closely from Namine's bed across the room. "I know you're probably pissed that we didn't tell you what happened when you got drunk last night, but…" She glances at her cousin uncertainly.

"You seem more troubled than angry," Namine finishes. She sips her mug of hot tea and shifts in her seat at her desk. "Did something happen?"

"Just let me eat," I mumble before stuffing more food into my mouth.

Kairi leaps off the bed and zooms to Namine's desk, twisting the lamp so that it shines directly in my face. "It's unhealthy to keep everything to yourself. What's wrong?"

"What's 'wrong' is that you're blinding me! Stop!"

"Not until you explain why you're even more out of it than you were this morning."

"I'm not _more_ out of it! I'm on the same level of…out-of-it-ness!"

"You're making up your own words now! You've just proved you're out of it."

"Did you see Axel?"

A bite of fried rice goes down the wrong way and I start coughing. "W-Why are you bringing up Axel?" I ask Namine, trying to focus on her amidst the tears welling up in my eyes and the flood of light.

"Didn't Demyx tell you he's going to HBU?" She reaches forward to push a napkin into my free hand. "He's studying for his Ph.D., you know."

I nearly drop both the napkin and my box of food. "That creep is studying for a _Ph.D.?_"

Namine blinks innocently. "I thought you knew. Axel's one of the top students interning at the hospital connected to the university."

"He's _interning?_" I repeat incredulously.

"Demyx said he saved a young patient's life last week."

"What the hell? Demyx didn't mention any of this to me!"

"Ee-mah-nee," Kairi sing-songs, "Demyx isn't responsible for giving you the low-down on Axel. You should really try getting to know him better by yourself. He's your special someone, after all."

"He's anything but," I growl, shoveling down more food. "He's arrogant and selfish and—"

She rolls her eyes, _finally_ twisting the desk lamp away from my face. "What are you talking about? He always kept his eye on you when you were going around giving strangers lap dances just to make sure none of your audience members got the wrong idea."

"He was probably laughing at me the entire time," I snort.

"Plus he kept you warm after you knocked out by sitting you on his lap and wrapping his arms around you," she goes on. "You were complaining in your sleep about being too cold and no one else brought a jacket."

The thought of his unusually warm arms wrapping around me _again_ sends a shiver through my spine…but I can't tell whether it's out of disgust or pleasure. "He _touched_ me while I was _asleep?_"

"He's not a bad guy," Kairi insists. "I think his old bad rep and his looks are blinding you."

My heart feels jittery. I don't like it. "And I think you're giving him too much credit…and that you should go back to your own dorm. Now."

* * *

I open the freezer door and reach in with my Ziploc-bag-covered hand. "Ice that wrist until the swelling goes down," I instruct the student over my shoulder. "Try not to move it very much. If it starts hurting again, the most painkillers I'll allow you to take are two for every two hours. No more than that."

"What if it starts swelling again?"

"Then ice it more." _Duh._ "If it doesn't get any better by Thursday then come back and we'll check on it again." I let the freezer door swing shut and hand the ice bag to him. "Any more questions?"

He shakes his head and mutters his thanks as he walks out the door. I count to five after he steps out before closing my eyes and sighing in exasperation. _Who comes up with the idea of swinging around a giant plastic _key_ in a mock swordfight?_

"Knock knock."

I turn my head slightly to the door for a moment to see who my next visitor is. With a silent "hmph" I turn away and busy myself with wrapping the cloth bandages I didn't use. "Hey, former best friend."

"_Former?_" Demyx repeats with a laugh. "What'd I do?"

With a clipped tone I ask, "Do you have something I need to treat?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it." He slumps into the swiveling chair next to my desk and wheels to my side, patting his chest. "My broken heart."

"I'm sorry. I don't think I have the right training or supplies to treat that." I give him a half-lidded sidelong glance. "Maybe _Axel_ can treat you at the _hospital_ where he's _interning_ so he can get his _Ph.D._"

His eyes widen and a nervous laugh crawls past his smile. "Heh. So _this_ is what Kairi was warning me about earlier."

I set down the bandage roll and face him fully. "You couldn't find a chance to tell me all that yesterday at the diner?"

"I thought you knew already." He shrugs. "You're both studying similar fields."

"There are at least two hundred other students in nursing—"

"He's in two of your classes."

I pause. "Not. Undergraduate and graduate programs don't have the same courses."

"He's a teacher assistant in your Pathopsychology and your Transcultural Healthcare Outreach courses." Demyx grins. "Starting tomorrow."

My jaw drops, but my heart sinks faster. "What?"

"Commit it to memory."

A fluttering bursts in my stomach at the sound of his voice. Axel leans against the doorframe casually, his arms crossed and that angular smirk on his face. "That shouldn't be much of a problem for you, though," he says. "If you can land a part-time job here at the nurse's office, then I'm sure you'll be just fine."

"Great, huh?" Demyx stands and wraps an arm around my slumped shoulders. "You two have plenty in common. There's no reason why you can't get along with each other."

I clench my fists and grind my teeth, willing myself not to explode at them. "Both of you get out of my office," I bite out.

Demyx's arm slackens. "But Imani—"

"You're not even supposed to be here, Demyx," I hiss.

"She's got a point, Dem." Axel nods. "Non-students can't be on campus. It's called _loitering_."

I shoot him a glare. "You need to leave, too, _Axel._"

He rolls his green eyes lazily, sauntering over. "You can't kick _me_ out."

"Don't you have anything better to do than irritate me?" I demand.

"You're really sour, you know that?" He leans close. "Maybe I should've brought some vodka to slip into that coffee of yours so you'd get a little more _friendly._"

"OUT!" I bark into his face. Demyx jumps and scampers out. Axel follows behind with much less haste or fear, that smirk of his only growing bigger.

I count to ten this time before collapsing into the swiveling chair, my white nurse coat flowing in the air as I fall. _Note to self: Get to Radiant Garden the second this shift finishes and annihilate Luxord's cell phone._

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **Thank you for reading! Happy holidays! Please review!


	5. When I Deny About Being in Denial

**Author's Comments:** This is why I love having days off--I get to write more and chapters come out more quickly! Hope you enjoy reading this!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do own Imani.

* * *

Fingers snap inches before my eyes. "Imani? You can go home now," Olette says. "Everyone else left already."

Blinking in an effort to refocus, I scan the sofas surrounding the coffee table and find empty seats where the rest of our study group had been. "We're done?"

"We've been done for the past fifteen minutes." She sighs, sitting down next to me. "Maybe you should take tomorrow off. Tifa doesn't have any catering jobs for the rest of the week so she'll be in to help me and Selphie."

I shake my head wearily. "It'll get really crazy if it's only you three."

"Belle's coming in, too." Olette touches my arm gently, concern coloring her eyes. "What's been eating you?"

_"It's unhealthy to keep everything to yourself."_

Shaking Kairi's voice out of my head, I chew on my lip before beginning, "You know Namine and Kairi's cousin who works at that salon a couple blocks down?"

She nods slowly, looking to the ceiling in thought. "Yeah…Luxord, right?"

I nod. "I tried to corner him earlier today at that salon so I could delete a video he took of me on his cell phone."

Her eyes light up and I can see the question "What did you _do?_" forming on her lips. After a second glance at me, though, she takes a moment to tone down her excitement and change her question. "Did you?"

_Olette. Ever the considerate one. _I allow a small fond smile. "I deleted the video, but he said he uploaded it on the Internet already."

"It must have been pretty bad if you went through the trouble of going to a _salon_ to track him down," she notes.

"Tell me about it," I laugh.

"Well," she hands me my notebook, "you get some rest and don't bother coming to work tomorrow. I'll explain to Tifa."

She and I both get up and head to the coffee shop exit. "Thanks. I'll definitely come in the day after."

"Only if you're feeling better." She smiles, holding the door open. "I'll see you when I see you."

Brisk air settles around me like a heavy cloak as I step out of the shop. Tightening my coat, I wave goodbye and watch her head off to her dorm before I turn in the opposite direction and start heading home.

"Imani."

In front of me, with his hands in his dark jacket pockets, stands the nightmare that's been haunting me for the past two days. Thoughts of warmth and fingertips explode in my head and the air suddenly doesn't seem as cold…

"What are you, my stalker?" I sneer in an effort to still my rapidly beating heart. "It's already bad that I have to see you for _two_ of my classes starting tomorrow."

"I was just passing by." He withdraws a hand and jerks a thumb over his shoulder. "My apartment's this way."

My jaw clenches. _Crap._

His eyes glint mischievously. "You headed this way, too?"

I run through my options in my head: I could say no, but then where would I go until Axel gets to his apartment? I could say yes, but that means possibly spending the next five minutes in his presence.

"Don't force yourself to answer." His smirk widens. "Your friend Kairi already told me which dorm you're in."

"Kairi?" I repeat, my eyebrows furrowing. "When did you talk to Kairi?"

Axel lolls his head from shoulder to shoulder, stretching out the kinks in his neck. "Yesterday. Dem gave me her number."

Alarms sound off so loudly I'm surprised he can't hear them. "Don't you _dare_ try anything on her or else I'll—"

"We just talked. Relax." He sighs exasperatedly. "She's not my type, anyway. Too peppy."

_So you say, _I grumble.

"So now that we've _finally_ established that you live in the dorm on the way to my apartment," he drawls, "shall we get going before you shiver so much you give yourself a heart attack?"

As soon as he utters those words, the frigid air slams into my face and crawls through the fibers of my coat and my thin long-sleeved shirt to my skin. Jamming my hands into my pockets, I give him a glare as I pass him on my way to the dorm. "You know it's highly unlikely to get a heart attack from _shivering._"

He grabs my wrist and I freeze. Slowly—almost _tauntingly_—he pulls my hand from my pocket and slides his own into mine, his palm never once leaving my sleeve.

To make matters worse, that rapid beating in my heart picks up pace. "W-What are you doing?" I demand.

"Heat—or a lack of heat—travels the fastest through the hands," he says, walking alongside me indifferently. "Athletes dunk their hands into buckets of ice and water to cool off when they overheat. Thought you knew that already."

That incredibly warm heat seems to surge up my arm just like it did when I first met him. It'd be hard to admit it's unwelcome, but I'm sure he doesn't need an ego boost. His control over the fluttering in my heart is irritating enough.

"I know that," I spit. "I don't see what that has to do with you holding my hand."

"Do I really need to spell it out for you?" he sighs. "I'm warming you up. Unless you'd rather continue freezing, don't complain."

_You're just saying that, you player. _

We both catch sight of my dorm standing a couple of yards away. His lips curl into a playful smirk. "Or maybe you'd rather I warm you up in a _different_ way…"

Instantly I tug away from his grasp as if he were on fire. "You pervert," I hiss, marching to the front door and whipping out my cardkey.

He barks a laugh. "Goodnight, Imani!"

I slide the cardkey without another glance at him, trying my best to ignore the suddenly cold emptiness in my hand.

* * *

"Call him, Namine!" Kairi squeals the moment I step into the dorm.

"No!" Namine shakes her head furiously, her flaxen hair whipping around her head. "I wouldn't know what to say!"

"That doesn't matter! He won't know what to say, either!"

"Then what are we going to do? It'll get awkward!"

"That's how it _always_ starts out. You two have to start getting to know each other _sometime_." Kairi turns to me. "Right?"

"She's right, Nam." I toss my bag onto my bed and take her cell phone and the slip of paper lying next to it. "Just ask him questions or plan to meet somewhere to talk. You should invite him to the Christmas party this Friday at Luxord's, too. Is he a student?"

"Y-Yeah," she nods. "Communications major."

"Here?" My eyebrows rise and she nods again. "How convenient. You can tell him what dorm you're in." I flick my eyes to the redhead. "If you won't, I'm sure _Kairi _will."

"Oh, come _on_, Imani!" she groans, whacking her palm on the bed. "What's your problem with Axel?"

I glance at the slip of paper. "I don't have a problem with him." Beep beep beep. "He's just a pervert who pops up everywhere I turn and irritates the heck out of me." Beep beep beep beep. "That's all." I place the phone next to my ear, my eyes traveling to the ceiling.

"Hello?" a low male voice answers after a few rings.

Removing the phone from my ear, I hold it out in front of Namine's confused face. "Roxas," I mouth with a wink.

Kairi slaps a hand to her mouth to muffle her squeal of delight as Namine hesitantly takes the phone from me. "H-Hello?" she says.

"C'mon, gossip girl." I tug Kairi out of the room and into the hallway. "Give her some space."

"I wanna listen!" she whines.

"You'll just stress her out even more." I shake my head, shutting the door behind me. "So what about you and Sora?"

Her eyes widen and she laughs nervously. "W-What about me and Sora?"

"Have you been able to hang out with him yet?" I ask slowly.

"I've been busy. He's been busy, too." Her gaze droops to the floor.

"Is it really too much trouble to have coffee with him after class?" I sigh. "You're no better off than Namine."

She sputters, "A-At least Namine and I admit that we like Roxas and Sora. You're in denial that you like Axel."

"A-Axel?" I laugh. "Don't get me started! He's the _last_ person I'd ever fall for."

"Really?" She smirks, a fine eyebrow quirking upwards. "That's not what it looked like at the soft opening the other night."

I stare at her with half-lidded eyes. "I was _drunk,_ Kairi."

"Exactly." She snaps her fingers as if the sound will carve her thinking deeper into my mind. "You let down your inhibitions and revealed your true self."

"But I was _drunk._ I didn't know what I was doing."

"Then let's watch."

Dread crawls up my spine. "Watch what?"

"Luxord's video, silly." She pushes me to the side gently, cracking open the door and peeking inside. "She's still on the phone but—oh, wait, never mind. She just hung up."

_Darn. _I swallow a groan.

Kairi opens the door fully and makes a beeline to Namine. "So?"

"W-We're having lunch tomorrow," Namine murmurs, her face beet red.

Her cousin screams, pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm so happy for you!"

I kick the door shut behind me. "Good for you, Nam," I smile.

"And now we've got to prove to Imani that she's got it bad for Axel!" Kairi zooms for the laptop on my desk and furiously types.

_Why does it always have to be girl-drama-time when Kairi comes over?_

With another sigh, I grab Kairi's cell phone from Namine's bed and search her contacts list for Sora's name. Once I spot it, I press the green "dial" button and wait for him to pick-up.

"Hello?" he answers after just one ring. I can hear the poorly concealed excitement in his voice.

I grin. "Hey Sora. It's Imani." _Sorry to disappoint._

"Oh, hey, Imani." Now he sounds confused and a bit more relaxed. "Why're you calling from Kairi's phone?"

"Hers was closer than mine."

"Heh, okay then."

"How've you been? I didn't get to talk to you at the concert."

"Yeah," he laughs. "You got drunk off of Xigbar's vodka shot."

"I know." I roll my eyes. "Kairi's actually busy trying to find the video of that online. She was supposed to be calling you instead of me, but she wants to know when you're free."

"U-Uh," he stutters, "I don't know…Tomorrow?"

"All day tomorrow?"

"I guess…the band's just cruising while we're here. We're going to that Christmas party, though."

I glance at Kairi's back. She's still searching intently. "Great! How's lunch with Kairi tomorrow sound? She's only got morning classes."

"O-Okay…"

_Aw, he's blushing._ "She'll meet you at noon at Timeless River. Sound good?"

"Okay. T-Thanks, Imani."

"See you!" I hang up and share an accomplished look with Namine. "Well, I think we did enough love-life meddling for today, don't you?"

"Nice try, Imani." Kairi pulls me to the computer and seats me in the chair. "I found it!"

"Lunch tomorrow at Timeless River with Sora." I grin cheekily at her. "You're welcome."

She jumps. "What?! When did you—"

"Play the video!" Namine says, reaching across me to click the mouse.

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **Plenty of things to look forward to! Please review! I'll try getting the next chapter out before Christmas. Happy holidays!


	6. When I Finally Get Around to Watching

**Author's Comments: **I'm sorry! I said I'd get the next chapter out by Christmas but I couldn't make it. I hope you find that the short delay was worth it after reading this chapter! It came out longer than usual.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I own Imani.

* * *

The moment I slump into the nearest free desk and drop my bag to the floor, I cradle my head in my hands wearily. I should _not_ have watched that video. I could hardly sleep because I was so embarrassed at what I did and stressed by the thought of seeing Axel today…

_"WHOOO! Go Imani! Shake that thang!"_

_"AH HA HA! This is like the fifth time Imani's gone back to give Axel a lap-dance!"_

_"Not like he's complaining!"_

Slowly my head sinks to the cool desktop. It was actually the _sixth _lap-dance I gave him.

_"Did she just lick his neck?!"_

Something _must_ be wrong with me if I can get drunk off only that one vodka shot. The video didn't catch me drinking anything else for the whole hour and a half I'd been taped conscious.

_"Ee-mah-neeeeee! Give _me_ another lap-dance!"_

_"Wait your turn, jackass."_

"Good morning, class," Professor Aerith's soft calming voice calls as she enters the room. "I have someone I'd like you to meet today."

I chance a look amidst the hair that had fallen in my face. Close behind her follows Axel, complete with his cocky smirk and spiky red hair.

_He whispers something in my ear and I giggle, snuggling deeper into his embrace and nuzzling his neck. One hand rubs the middle of my back while the other rests a little lower…_

I groan. I _knew_ I should've had stayed home.

Professor Aerith brushes away a stray wisp of brown hair and smiles at the class. "This is Axel Flynn. He'll be working with me as my assistant next semester, but I wanted him to come in today before you went off on winter break."

"Hey," he waves. "If you've got any questions, feel free to ask me."

_Here's one for you: Is there any chance of a big black hole appearing beneath me to swallow me whole so I can disappear? Or maybe the idea of spontaneously combusting into thousands of pieces right now is more likely?_

A few girls behind me giggle and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I can just picture them asking him for his number.

"Axel will be sitting in today to see how class works," Professor Aerith explains. "Everyone, please take out your textbooks and turn to page three-thirty. Axel, you can sit down at any of the empty desks."

I let out a sigh of relief as I dig out my books. Thank goodness all the desks near me are taken. The only empty desks are on the other side of the room. Out of the corner of my eye I spot him heading to the empty desk in the first row and picking up the desk and carrying it across the front of the room…

_Wait_. My eyes widen in horror as he lugs the desk to my area, his eyes watching me impishly.

Then it hits me. There's empty _space_ directly to my left. Empty space big enough to fit a desk and a teacher's assistant.

_Crap._

With a clatter he sets the desk down and slides into the seat. "Yo, Imani," he grins.

_He tightens his arms around me, settling deeper into the couch…_

Nothing against Professor Aerith, but her classes have dropped down to being my least favorites.

"What's with the blush?" he whispers. "You thinking about something?"

"N-No." I clear my throat, turning away from him to hide and willing the heat to disappear from my face.

The professor spends the whole hour (it feels like _three_) discussing theories linked to a case study of a man with multiple personality disorder. Unfortunately, she calls on Axel to put in his opinions. I can hear the girls behind me swooning every time he speaks.

"Events in which he experienced severe trauma could be linked as the causes of his multiple personalities," he explains. "For example, the development of his 'Xemnas' personality could stem from experiencing heavy neglect or frustration over his own emotional control. In contrast, the development of his 'Ansem the Wise' personality could stem from his years of intense education and the influence his mentor—possibly named Ansem—had on him."

My ears seem to itch as his words echo in the room. The professional tone sounds so foreign coming from him.

"Well said, Axel," Professor Aerith applauds. "I believe that's all the time we have for today, class. I'll let you out a little early as a Christmas treat from me. Happy holidays!"

"_Thank_ you," I mutter under my breath, snapping my books shut and gathering them in my arms. _I can finally get out of this room!_

Axel turns to me lazily. "What do you have now?"

"Anatomy." I jump from my seat but before I can dash to the door, my pencil case spills to the floor. I groan, slamming my books back onto the desk before kneeling down to pick up my loose highlighters and pens.

"_Anatomy?_" he repeats above me. "Isn't that a two-hundred course?"

"Does it matter if I didn't take it last year?" I huff. "I was too busy working off my tuition to take that course."

He hums thoughtfully as I stuff the last of my pens back into the case. "You know," he purrs, his desk creaking as he leans towards me, "I bet I can teach you a thing or two about the anatomy through a _hands-on_ experience."

With a start, I bang my head on the bottom of my desk.

"Well, to be honest, you don't really need to learn anything more. You seemed to know your stuff from what I could tell when you gave me _all_ those lap-dances."

_That's it!_ I punch his leg as hard as I can, reveling in his howls of pain as I stand fully and leave.

* * *

Tifa does a double take at me. "Why are you here? Olette told me you were taking today off."

"I don't have anyone to eat lunch with," I sigh. "I set Kairi and Namine up on lunch dates yesterday."

"What about Demyx?" She scoops a large spoonful of macaroni salad onto a plate.

I shake my head. "He isn't picking up so I'm guessing he's asleep. He doesn't eat lunch until three-thirty, anyway."

She laughs, "Okay, then. Take a seat and I'll fix something for you. What do you feel like eating?"

"It doesn't matter." I plop into the seat nearest the counter. "Just don't forget to add a cookie."

"Uh-oh," Tifa groans sympathetically. "Did something happen again?"

I wait for her to hand the plate to her customer before heaving another sigh. "I found out what I did when I was drunk."

"You have an alcohol habit?" she asks curiously.

I only moan in response.

She scoffs, jerking her head to one side and waving a gloved hand. "It can't be _that_ bad. Next to your dorm-mate, you're the most clean, morally sound person I know—"

"I give lap-dances," I blurt. "I gave one to nearly every person at that party, both male _and_ female, sitting down _or_ standing up _or_ dancing, regardless of whether I had a bone to pick with them or not."

Tifa nearly drops her next order as she explodes into laughter. "You're kidding me! Lap-dances? _You?!_"

My fingers rake through my hair and I sink further into my seat. "What's worse is that I gave Demyx's old roommate _six_ and then ended up falling asleep in his arms."

"You _slept_ with him?!" she screams.

"NO!" I almost knock my chair over standing up. "Don't shout, Tifa!"

She flashes me an apologetic grin and motions for Belle to take over making orders. "Come to the back and we'll talk."

As if lifted by puppet strings, I hoist myself up and trudge to the back kitchen, slamming my body against the door to push it open. "I didn't sleep with him. I just knocked out in his arms at the club."

She strides over to the fridge and sticks her head in. "After your six lap-dances?"

I tumble into a chair, slumping onto the table. "Don't rub it in, please."

"Sorry," she laughs. "So that was…Sunday, right? Monday, you come to work feeling like crap. From what Olette told me, you still seemed out of it yesterday so she told you to take today off. You _still_ come in and ask for a cookie." She carries out a head of lettuce and a Ziploc bag of marinated vegetables. "What you did that night can't be tormenting you _that_ much on its own. You're not the type of person to dwell so much on a minor slip like that."

"But it's not minor!" I insist. "It's anything but minor."

"Why? Are you embarrassed of what you did?" Suddenly she sets down the items in her hand with a loud thud. "Or maybe…you're embarrassed of doing that in front of a certain someone?" She turns slowly, her eyes lighted in a sly glow. "Or you're embarrassed of doing that _to_ a certain someone?"

I silently plead her not to make me answer, but she remains unyielding. Biting my lip, I brace myself for the inevitable outburst. "He's a grad student majoring in the same field as me _and_ he's my professor's assistant starting today."

"Who?" she asks slightly, her smirk betraying her cluelessness.

"Demyx's old roommate," I mumble. "Axel."

She throws her head back in laughter, her hair rippling in its ponytail. "Oh, that's terrible! Does he remember?"

"Remember? He's been reminding me of it every time I see him!" I cry.

Turning back to the food in front of her, she waves a hand in my direction. "Have a cookie and calm down."

"How am I supposed to calm down?" Nevertheless, I reach for the pan of cookies (a batch Olette _didn't_ burn this time) and nibble on a particularly large disc. "He's _haunting_ me!"

"Haunting you?" she repeats, chopping up leaves of lettuce and tossing them into a metal bowl. "How so?"

My eyes narrow suspiciously. "You're going to jump to conclusions if I told you," I mutter.

"Am I?" She shoots me a sidelong glance, her eyebrow cocked upward. "Try me."

I match her stare, sizing up her will to listen. "…andhehasreallywarmhands," I rush out.

Her eyes widen and her eyebrows shoot up. "Really?"

"No judging!" I point a finger at her.

She holds up her hands as a gesture of surrender. "No judging. I won't say anything if you don't want me to. I'll just cook."

I swallow my bite and take another. I just _know _she's thinking the same thing Kairi is and they're both wrong. I most certainly do _not_ like him.

* * *

I tentatively step into the classroom, darting my eyes around for any sight of a wild mane of red hair. After triple checking corner-to-corner, I slink to a seat near the far wall and pull out my books. The seats surrounding me are usually filled (by the chattier, in-your-face bunch of friends, I realize with a groan) by the time class begins.

"So you going to the Christmas party on Friday, too?"

I whip my head to my left, utterly startled. _How did he…?_

"I heard Luxord's got a pretty sick place," he goes on, smirking mercilessly.

_"Axel, how can you just _sit_ there when she's doing _that?_"_

"That's usually where Seifer sits," I mutter quickly, banishing the train of thoughts to the darkest corner of my mind. "He'll get ticked if you sit there."

"Seifer?" He rolls the name on his tongue. "Seifer…Oh, that beanie-head punk whose shirt is meant for a six year old?"

A laugh bubbles in my chest but I stifle it by pursing my lips together. "Yeah, him."

Axel shakes his head. "I have to wonder what the hell he's doing trying to get a nursing degree," he scoffs. "He obviously doesn't understand anything."

"What was that, jackass?"

I flick my eyes behind Axel to find a fuming Seifer, his fists clenched and his eyes blazing. "You're in my seat, by the way," he snarls.

Calmly Axel shifts in his seat to face Seifer. "They're plenty of opens seats available." He gestures to the rest of the class. "Just sit somewhere else for a change."

"I don't want to sit somewhere else." A hand snaps out to fist the front of Axel's dark shirt. "I want to sit _here_."

"Sorry, _Your Highness_." Axel makes no move to pry off his fingers. "I called this seat first."

Seifer's angry eyes flash to me. "Oh, _I_ see now." He grins. "It's because _she's_ sitting there, right? In that case, _both_ of you move."

The suggestion in his eyes makes my cheeks heat up even though I know Axel just wants to bug me.

The redhead sighs melodramatically. "You're a stubborn one, aren't ya? Fine. I'll move."

Against my will, a ping of concern goes off in my head as he pushes himself up. Where's he going to sit?

Axel sidesteps Seifer, staring at him coolly until he passes completely. "Stand up for a second, Imani."

_Me?_ I jerk my head back slightly at the request but hesitantly slide out of my seat.

To my indignation, he plops down into my seat, moves my pile of books to the desk behind him, jiggles the tabletop until it drops to the side of the chair, and takes hold of my wrist. "Have a seat." He tugs me until I fall into his lap clumsily.

"What the hell?!" Seifer cries.

Axel's bright green eyes—lined ever so slightly with black, now that I'm close enough to see every detail of his face—dart to the side. "_Now_ what's wrong?"

"_Several_ things are wrong!" he exclaims. "You're the teacher's assistant and you've got a chick—a _student _straddling you!"

"So?" he shrugs, wrapping one arm loosely around my waist. "Imani and I are like _this._" He promptly holds up his free hand, his bony pointer and middle fingers crossed.

_Pssh. Hardly,_ I argue mentally, suppressing the temptation to cover my burning face with my hands._ We've known each other less than a week._

"T-That's not the point! She kinda has to pay attention to what the professor's saying!"

"I can fill her in later. I _breezed_ through this class. It's kinda why I'm the assistant now."

"W-Well then what are you two planning to do the whole hour?"

"I don't know." His hand crawls up and down my back and his eyes glow mischievously. "Imani's been pretty cold…Maybe if we get to know each other better, she'll warm up to me."

_He's coming on to me in front of my classmate?! The nerve! It's bad enough when he suggests something perverted when we're alone!_

Despite the mad rant filling every crevice of my mind, I find myself getting lost in green. That stupid eyeliner makes his eyes pop. "Axel…" I warn lowly.

Completely unfazed, he widens his smirk and says to Seifer, "Unless you're willing to put up with the two of us mapping out each other's mouths with our tongues, I suggest you find somewhere else to sit. Got it memorized?"

Seifer wavers, his coat fluttering with every hesitant step towards and away from the desk. "Fine then," he finally concedes, stalking away to find another open seat.

Axel waits a moment before commenting offhandedly, "That went better than I thought."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I hiss. "Do you _enjoy_ putting people in awkward situations like this?"

"Only when you're the one I get to embarrass," he grins. "Getting punched in the shin is totally worth seeing you flustered."

I narrow my eyes, shooting him the meanest glare I can manage. "You're unbelievable."

"And you're blushing."

_Tell me something I don't know._ The idea of getting off Axel's lap pops into my mind only _now,_ but when I try hoisting myself up, his hands immediately latch to my hips and hold me down. "Let me get off!" I command.

"Why?" he asks innocently. "Aren't you comfortable? You fell asleep here—"

"Good afternoon, class!"

_Oh, thank goodness._ He loosens the grip of his hands (but doesn't remove them from my jeans) and I immediately jump off him, darting for the desk where my books are lying.

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **Axel's last name (Flynn) is taken from his voice actor, Quinton Flynn. I couldn't come up with a catchy last name on my own so I searched around for tidbits about Axel's background and thought, "Hey, his voice actor's name is pretty cool."

...I'm not sure if I want to do the same thing for the rest of the Kingdom Hearts characters, though. Roxas would be named "Roxas McCartney." I crack up every time I think about it.

Please review! Thanks for reading!


	7. When the Semester Finally Ends

**Author's Comments:** Super surprisingly, I came up with this last night. I was tired as heck, but I managed! Yay! I hope you enjoy reading this.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I own Imani.

* * *

For the fifth time, Kairi whines wordlessly. "Will you at least bury your nose in one of your textbooks so you _look_ like you're studying? We don't all have insane memory skills like you do."

"I'm too tired to pretend I'm studying," I moan, burying my head further into my pillow. "If you're irritated that I can pass my midterms without studying, then go back to your own dorm and wait for Selphie to come back from work."

"It's not fair," she grumbles, raking a hand through her hair and flipping a page of her notes noisily. "Who's dumb idea was it to give exams on Christmas Eve?"

"We started school late because of the campus reconstruction, remember?" Namine reminds her. "You've only got two, anyway. Roxas has three."

"And Imani's only got _one!_" Kairi cries.

I roll my eyes. "Stop complaining. I had two labs and four papers to do. _And _I have to work tomorrow."

"Can you still sleep over?" Namine asks, shifting her glasses further up her slender nose. "Luxord wants us to help set up the house."

"I should be able to," I nod. "I finish at five-thirty."

"He wants you to make quiche for the party, too," she adds. "Preferably spinach."

I nod again. I'll have to run to the grocery store after work, then.

"Ugh! I hate studying!"

"So I take it things went well during lunch?" I murmur to Namine. "You don't seem disappointed in any way."

A light flush blotches her cheeks. "I-It went well. He said he's going tomorrow."

"Good," I smile. "Kairi said Sora's going, too. I'm happy for both of you."

"Is Axel going?" she asks, her tone barely concealing her slyness.

My lips tug down into a frown. "Yeah. Unfortunately."

"That's a good thing!" Kairi jumps in. "I haven't seen him since the concert."

"You should be happy you haven't." I heave a sigh. "If you heard _half_ the things he said to me…"

She shakes her head, smirking at me. "You're in denial, Imani."

"Get back to studying," I order softly with a glare.

* * *

"Thank you! Have a good day!" I bid the latest customers who've finished eating.

"Don't forget to wish them merry Christmas," Olette tells me as she passes behind. "At least say it so I remember that it's tomorrow."

Belle hums in agreement. "Isn't it a little sad? It doesn't quite feel like Christmas this year. I don't know what it is."

"Maybe because it hasn't snowed yet," I suggest, grabbing a wet towel and wiping the counter. "Or because none of us have been able to really relax and soak in all the Christmastime atmosphere."

"Well, that's a good explanation for _you,_" Olette laughs. "You're always so busy. Have you even found time to buy presents?"

"Of course I have!" I reach into my apron pocket and withdraw two square envelopes. "See? One for each of you."

They both gasp and hesitantly accept the envelopes. "Aw, thank you!" Belle says with a smile. "This is so sweet. You didn't have to."

"Yeah," Olette nods, carefully slipping it into her own apron pocket. "It's enough that you volunteered to find Tifa's gift from all of us."

I bite my lip anxiously. "I hope she likes it, though."

"FINALLY!"

In bursts Kairi, her exam stress practically melting off her and dissipating into the air. The three of us laugh as she stumbles to the counter and nearly drops her purse. "How'd you do?" Olette asks.

"I don't know! I don't wanna jinx myself!" she moans. "I've told myself that I'm not going to think about it!"

"That's a good girl." Tifa joins us, wiping her hands on a towel. "_Que cera cera_."

"Exactly," she snaps her fingers. "So are you almost finished, Imani?"

"If Tifa doesn't need me to do anything else, then yeah." I look to my boss who scans the entire café carefully.

"I think we can take care of the rest," she eventually replies, turning to me with a grin. "Merry Christmas!"

I wish everyone a merry Christmas and retreat to the back kitchen, tugging the strings of my apron loose and signing myself out on the work hour sheet. Tifa's gift—a gift basket of bath and body products from her favorite boutique—sits quietly on her desk. Once I finish signing out, I stuff my apron into my bag and head out the door to meet up with Kairi.

"So what do you need for your quiche?" she asks on the way to her car.

I count off the ingredients with my fingers. "Eggs, half-and-half, nutmeg, salt, spinach, garlic powder…a pie crust…"

"Let's go to the store down the road from Luxord's," she decides, clicking a button on her car key to open the doors. "Namine took your sleepover stuff already."

"Okay…wait." I shut the door behind me, eyeing Kairi warily. "You didn't switch out anything I'd packed, did you?"

Her flinch is so tiny I almost miss it. "Of course I didn't," she answers coolly, revving up the car and pulling out of the lot.

"I'll know if you did," I inform her. "You know I'll spot it."

"I know." Kairi focuses intently on the road. "I'm telling you I didn't switch anything out. It's up to you whether you want to believe me or not."

_I'll find out eventually,_ I conclude, settling into my seat and watching the town pass by leisurely. _Maybe _Namine_ did it._

* * *

The black front door opens to reveal Luxord in jeans and a collared shirt. "Alas, the master chef and the chatterbox have arrived," he announces jokingly. "_Now_ this preparation party is starting to pick up."

"You're terrible, Luxord." Kairi rolls her eyes but hugs him anyway, handing him the plastic grocery bags she'd been carrying. "You need to work on being a good host."

"I _am_ a good host," he argues, stepping aside to let us in. "I have food. I have alcohol. I have a flat screen TV. I have cards. That's all guests ever bother the host about when they attend house parties."

I hold back a shudder. _Ugh. Cards._

"And how are you, Imani?" Luxord shuts the door and pulls me into a hug. "Namine tells me you've been quite preoccupied lately."

"It's all thanks to you, really," I mutter into his shirt, his cologne wafting in a light haze around my head. "You and your cards and your video. My week has been going _great_ because of you."

"You're certainly pouring out the love tonight," he chuckles, pulling away and heading for the kitchen. "Spinach quiche, right?"

"Just for you," I sing-song, slipping my coat off and hanging it in the closet. "Set the oven to three-fifty."

"Yes, ma'am."

The living room already shows hints of Christmas. A couple of logs stand propped up against the brick fireplace. Silver tinsel winds around the tree and a few presents (including the ones I packed) sit beneath its bottommost limbs. Candles of different shapes and sizes sit scattered around the room.

As I near the kitchen, soft Christmas music lilts through the house and mingles with more of Kairi and Luxord's laughter. "Hey, Namine," I wave to the girl sitting at the dining table.

She looks up from her handiwork—an arrangement of acorns and pine branches and ribbon. "Hey! How was your day?"

"Fine," I reply. "The front looks great already."

"Thanks," she smiles. "Kairi wanted me to wait for her before I could continue decorating the tree."

"I figured as much," I nod. "I think I'll let you two decorate and I'll cook."

"Are you going to make dinner, too?" Kairi calls hopefully. "Make pasta!"

"Don't listen to her," Luxord counters easily. "We're all eating Special K cereal for dinner so we don't gain too much weight tomorrow."

All three of us burst into laughter. "You eat Special K, Luxord?" I weave in between giggles.

He sighs dramatically. "Of _course_ I don't eat that crap. I have noodles in the cupboard. Help yourself to whatever's in the fridge, too."

"Make it now, Imani!" Kairi cheers. "I'm starving!"

"Fine, fine." I begin rummaging through the fridge and pick out tomatoes, basil, cheese…

Cheese…

I gasp loudly, standing up straight and almost dropping the ingredients. "No! I forgot about the cheese!"

"For what?" Namine asks.

"The quiche!" I groan. "I _knew_ I was forgetting something."

"Terrible, Imani," Luxord chides, clicking his tongue. "Whatever happened to remembering everything?"

"Hey, it's been an off week for me!" I protest, quickly setting the tomatoes and basil on the counter. "Kairi, can I borrow your car?"

Her brow furrows but she holds out her keys. "You're going back to the store? Luxord has Kraft singles in the fridge"

"Those won't taste good in it," I shake my head, snatching the keys and jogging out the kitchen to the coat closet. "I'll be back in half an hour."

* * *

I sigh in defeat. Why must the solid cheeses be too big and the right-sized cheeses too creamy? Can't they sell solid cheeses that are the size I want them to be? Why are they all so expensive?

Ah, whatever. I randomly grab a solid provolone and glance at the price (this just _has_ to be some sort of conspiracy!) and reach into my pocket for my cell phone.

"Imani?" Kairi answers on the third ring.

"Do you guys need anything from the store?" I ask tiredly, inspecting the cheese for any mold. Maybe if I file for food poisoning, I could start a movement towards lowering cheese prices.

"Um…not really. Did you find everything you needed for the pasta?"

I nibble on my lip thoughtfully. "Does he have olive oil?"

"Y…eah."

"Garlic?"

"Yeah."

"…Mushrooms?"

"…No."

"Alright then," I sigh again, making my way to the produce section. "I'll grab those while I'm here. You _sure_ there isn't anything else I need to get?"

"…Luxord wants Chips Ahoy. Not the chewy kind."

I snort. "What? He doesn't want to bake sugar cookies for Santa?"

"I know, right? _So_ not festive. He even has a box of mix in the pantry."

"Give me the phone," Luxord demands faintly in the background.

"No!" Kairi giggles. "She'll get your cookies, okay?"

"Play nice, you two." I halt in front of mushrooms galore, examining the boxes of white mushrooms. "Don't make Namine play ref."

"Just come back soon. We're about to open up a bag of potato chips."

With a laugh and a click, I hang up and select a mushroom box. "Chips Ahoy, Chips Ahoy," I murmur under my breath, beginning my search for the snack aisle.

Frozen foods…more frozen foods…spices…breakfast foods…ah! Snacks. I grin, turning the corner and entering the aisle.

"Where the hell are the pita chips?"

My heart stops. Instantly I dash back around the corner, pressing up against the end of the row. What's _Axel _doing here?!

"Jackass!" a high-pitched female voice sneers. "I already got everything else on the list and you're still stuck on a bag of chips?"

Something tugs at my mind. That voice sound so familiar…

_"Now, Miss Imani, I just need you to _relax_…"_

I clap a hand over my mouth to muffle my cry of surprise. It's that girl who gave me the massage! _Larxene!_

"Well, _you_ try finding them," Axel shoots back, his sultry tone tinged heavily with frustration.

How does Axel know Larxene? They sound very comfortable with each other.

_Maybe she was one of the girls he…did…_

I gulp. My chest tightens uncomfortably, but why?

"Dammit, where are they?"

"_See?_ I've been searching this aisle so much I have it memorized! Who're you calling a jackass?"

Forget Luxord's cookies. I stride nervously to the nearest register, praying neither of them will notice me before I return to the car.

"Hello, ma'am," the employee greets dully. "Did you find everything you were looking for today?"

I nod, whipping out my wallet. He scans the cheese and the mushrooms, dragging his arm across the counter _ever_ so slowly.

"Twenty-four sixty-four," he drones.

Twenty! Five! I shove the bills into his outstretched hand. Push those buttons _faster!_ If you're not going to put my stuff in a bag, then _I _will!

"Thirty-six cents is your change."

"Keep it!" I whisper, snatching the bag and darting through the exit so quickly that I slam into the door before it can automatically open fully for me.

* * *

**EDIT: **Thanks, **Dance of Flame**, for pointing out my slip-up! My mind must've been more exhausted than I thought.

**Author's Afterthought: **And there you have it. I honestly wanted to skip right to the Christmas party, but then that would've meant skipping an entire day. (One less day of Imani being stressed out by Axel is no fun, right?) It took me at least an hour to figure out how to get from the sitting-on-his-lap scenario to the Christmas party without jumping too much.

Personal experience alert! I planned to make spinach quiche for my family Christmas dinner, but I completely forgot to buy cheese. All the stores were closed by the time I realized this and all I had at home were Kraft singles and six or seven tiny cheddar cubes from a snack pack thing. I had to slice up those tiny cheddar cubes. (Thankfully, the quiche turned out pretty tasty.)

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!


	8. When We Start Questioning

**Author's Comments: **Heads up: This chapter is the longest one I've written yet. Make yourself comfortable before you start reading this. Thanks for waiting! I hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts (or Special K or Chips Ahoy, as I forgot to mention in the last chapter). I do own Imani.

* * *

I carefully set down the spreading knife and take a bite of my toasted English muffin, humming in content as the sweet jam tickles my tongue. Waking up several hours earlier than I'd have liked has now become worth the trouble.

We stayed up until after two in the morning decorating and cooking and opening presents. (Namine made me a scarf, Kairi bought me a notebook, and Luxord had the guts to buy me a souvenir shotglass from the Three Wishes club. I promptly glared at Luxord after opening his gift.) My slumber only felt like it lasted five minutes before Kairi burst into the guest bedroom and jumped on my bed.

"Coffee, Imani?" Luxord offers from the kitchen counter.

I nod. "_Please_. Kairi won't let me go back to sleep."

"It's already noon!" she protests, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "We've still got more to do before the guests start coming."

"The party doesn't start 'til five," I deadpan.

Her manicured pointer finger taps the dining table with each item she names. "We've gotta start the fire, light the candles, prepare the drinks, set up the food, put ice in the coolers—"

"I get it. There's still more to do."

"_Plus_ we need to shower and do our hair and make-up and get dressed!"

Namine adds calmly, "Luxord's going to do our hair again, right?"

"If you insist," he sighs, setting down the mug.

We finish up breakfast (lunch?) and set off to clear the items on Kairi's to-do list.

* * *

"Who's supposed to be coming?"

Kairi commands me to shut my eyes. "Luxord's coworkers, Demyx and his band, and Axel," she lists as she brushed something over my eyelids. "Maybe you can Lexeaus for a massage."

"That sounds fantastic," I sigh. "I don't think I will, though. I don't want to trouble him. He's supposed to be off today."

"Luxord's supposed to be off today, too, but he's still doing our hair."

"He's your cousin. He knows you'll bug him if he doesn't."

"Hey, it's nothing but love in our family." She gives me permission to open my eyes again. "Oh yeah, that reminds me," she throws the eyeshadow palette and liner pencil into her makeup bag and digs around for something else, "I was going to tell you to invite your brother but I wasn't sure if he already had plans."

I blink blearily, nearly tempted to press soothing fingers to my eyes. "He doesn't, but he'd rather stay home and watch old movies with Mom or his girlfriend."

Kairi practically eats up my words like a child eats candy. "He got a _girlfriend?_"

"A few months ago," I nod. "I haven't met her yet, but she sounds really nice."

"Good for him!" she cheers, unscrewing her mascara bottle. "About time Aden found someone. Look up."

I obey reluctantly. I hate when someone else puts on my mascara. "I agree completely. He needs to get married and settle down soon."

The brush nears my right eye and I silently pray Kairi doesn't stab or streak my skin black. "What are you talking about?" she giggles. "He's still young. Isn't he the same age as Axel?"

I recoil. "You did _not_ just compare Aden to Axel."

She frowns, grabbing my shoulder and repositioning me closer to her poised mascara brush. "Well if you say Aden has to get hitched soon, then you're basically saying Axel should get hitched soon, too. Look up and hold still."

"No I'm not," I argue. "Aden's much more mature than Axel will ever be. He doesn't hit on every girl he sees and he acts more his age. It's impossible for Axel to find someone to settle down with."

"Oh really?" She blows lightly on my lashes before moving on to my other eye. "Has Axel been sleeping with anyone lately?"

"Don't ask _me_. How am I supposed to know something like that?"

"You two are pretty close buddies now, aren't you?"

"_Me and Imani are like _this._" Crossed fingers._

I'd roll my eyes if she weren't blowing my lashes dry. "We _aren't._"

She stops blowing and gives me a skeptical look. "Fine. I'll change the question: With your _stellar_ observation skills, have you noticed Axel hitting on every girl he sees?"

I hesitate. I want to answer "no," but somehow the word sits unnaturally on my tongue. Whenever I'm with Axel, he's all that's taking up my mind. I haven't actually _noticed_ him hitting on other girls. I'm usually too busy trying to put up with his antics.

Kairi begins wordlessly singing the Jeopardy theme song as she dusts her brush with pink powder. "Smile!" she singsongs.

"Shut up," I retort through a gritted smile.

* * *

Zexion, Lexaeus, and Vexen are the first guests to arrive. I glance up from slicing my quiche to watch Luxord greet them.

"You're fifteen minutes early," he drawls, stepping aside to let the three in.

"Vexen insisted on leaving early to avoid the nonexistent traffic and the falsely-predicted snowstorm," Zexion mutters monotonously.

"You underestimate the wrath of ice," Vexen sneers to the receptionist. "Any snowstorm has the potential to turn roads into long slippery sheets of frost that can send drivers spinning erratically! It could take days for the ice to melt!"

"Don't use your irritatingly extensive knowledge of geology and physics to mask your fear of arriving at the party late."

"How dare you speak to me that way! I'm your senior!"

"Hello, Lexaeus." Luxord shuts the door with a tired sigh. "What did you three bring?"

"Ham, mashed potatoes, and eggnog," he rumbles quietly as he holds up each package.

Luxord takes the two smaller packages with an appreciative grin. "I suppose you're the one who made the ham while Zexion and Luxord brought these?"

The massage therapist returns the smile. "Mashed potatoes _is_ the most elaborate dish Zexion can make."

"And Vexen wanted to play cooking chemistry," he nods understandingly.

I let out a breathless laugh. Luxord's coworkers are a bunch of _characters_.

"Here you are, _chef de cuisine_." He strides into the kitchen and sets the packages down on the counter next to me. "Where would you like me to put these?"

"Um…" I tap my finger thoughtfully. "Put the eggnog in the fridge for now and let's keep the ham and the mashed potatoes on the stovetop. I don't want the food getting cold before everyone arrives."

He nods and follows my directions. "Alright. Lexaeus, have you met Imani?"

"I don't believe I have," he says. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Imani."

"Likewise," I smile warmly. "I didn't get one from you when I visited Radiant Garden but I heard from my friends that you give good massages."

Instead of thanking me for the comment or denying his skill, he gracefully asks, "Did Larxene give you your massage?"

"_Jackass! I already got everything else on the list and you're still stuck on a bag of chips?"_

A weird pang thumps my chest as I hum my confirmation. I turn the pie around and eyeball the placement of my knife. "She did a good job of _loosening_ me up."

From the way his smile grows a centimeter bigger, I can tell he knows what I'm talking about. Even Luxord chuckles softly. "She is still learning. I hope she didn't hurt you too much."

Just then, Zexion and Vexen enter the room, still bickering back and forth. Luxord groans next to me but swiftly cuts in, "Vexen, Imani here is a food expert. Would you like her to sample your signature eggnog?"

_Oh great. Use _me_ as the diversion._

"Help yourself," he waves a hand haughtily. "I'm sure you'll find my culinary skills to be of exceptional talent."

_No, Imani. Don't roll your eyes, even if you think he's too full of himself._

"Here you are." Luxord holds out a small glass of creamy white liquid. I've never been too fond of the drink but I accept and down the eggnog, swishing the substance in my mouth.

…Oh…

"Well?" Vexen demands.

Swallowing with a bit of difficulty, I pause for a moment to let the drink settle and to give my head to remember how to stay upright. "Wow. It tastes a little…_strong_…"

"Strong?" he repeats. "Please elaborate."

Is it just me or did he exaggerate his pronunciation? _El-LA-boh-ray-tuh. El Laborato. _That could be the name of a pro wrestler. Why is the room shifting?

I give my head a tiny shake to try clearing out the dizziness. "Ordinarily, eggnog is made with beaten eggs, milk, cream, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon, but I taste something else."

Vexen's forehead creases in thought for a few seconds. Soon, he lights up. "Oh, perhaps you taste the rum."

…Rum? _Rum?_

I snap my eyes shut and take deep breaths. "Not good," I whisper.

"Excuse me?" Vexen shrieks. (_Shrieks?_ Why is he _shrieking?_) "I'll have you know I spent a good hour and twenty minutes devising the perfect blend of ingredients!"

"She didn't mean the eggnog isn't good," Luxord shouts. (Why is everyone so loud?!) "How much rum did you put in?"

"A bottle measuring one and a half liters," he reports.

Instances of Luxord's video flash in my head like blinding stadium lights. A moan of despair crawls out my throat.

"Go lie down upstairs, Imani," Luxord instructs me. "Lap-dances at the start of a party make everything awkward."

All too willingly I set down the knife and cup and run to my guest bedroom before I crash.

* * *

What wakes me up from my nap is Demyx's hand slipping into mine, his skin remarkably cooler than that of the one who'd been holding me before.

"You sure, Dem?"

"Since when have you been reluctant to join a party?" my best friend's melodious voice laughs quietly. "Go already. Everyone's asking where you are."

Without answering the person leaves, shutting the door with a soft click.

I wiggle my fingers experimentally and Demyx jumps. "Imani?" he whispers. "Are you up?"

"Mmhm." My eyes slowly open to try meeting his in the darkness of the room. "How long have I been asleep?"

"A few hours," he says. "You sober now?"

"I think so." I smile and sit upright. "As long as I stay away from Vexen's eggnog, I should be fine."

"You gotta admit it's good eggnog, though," he laughs. "Too bad you've got a super low alcohol tolerance."

"He put a liter and a half of rum in the batch he brought," I protest. "I've heard rum is stronger than vodka, too."

"He made _several_ liters of the stuff," Demyx counters. "You probably only had a _sip_ of rum and you still got drunk. And vodka is stronger. Xigbar will tell you otherwise, but don't believe him."

I shake my head. "Anyway, you didn't need to come check on me. I would've woken up and joined you before the party ended."

"Heh," he grins, gently squeezing my hand. "I actually wanted to check on Axel, but I wanted to see how you were doing, too."

"Axel?" I frown.

"Yeah." He dons one of his mixed-thoughts looks and a mischievous smirk. "He was up here for at least an hour, watching over you."

Thank goodness it's dark in here so he can't see my face heat up. "H-He was? Why?"

"He wouldn't admit it," his smirk widens, "but he was worried about you."

Those words don't sound right. I scrunch my face skeptically. "No he wasn't."

"You wanna bet?" he challenges. "None of us would let him come up here to check on you when he first learned you were out drunk—"

"Because you were worried he'd do something perverted to me," I finish.

He rolls his eyes. "_No,_ because we wanted him to enjoy the party. I only gave him permission to come here because he kept glancing at the upstairs rooms with this concerned look…and we _all_ noticed."

"Whatever you say, Dem." I clear my throat nervously, deepening my breaths to allow the blood in my cheeks to circulate out. "I'm getting a little hungry. Is there any food left?"

"Are you kidding me? There's tons." He gets off the bed, tugging me along with him. "C'mon. Let's put Axel's mind to rest."

"He's _not_ worried about me," I declare.

The light blinds me momentarily as Demyx leads me down the stairs to the living room where most of the guests lounge around watching TV and eating and talking.

"Well, well! Good morning, sunshine!" Luxord calls cheerily, waving his free hand. "We were just starting another card game. Care to join?"

I scoff. "_Heck_ no."

"Go get something to eat," Demyx tells me. "_I_ wanna play."

"You're crazy," I mutter, walking to the kitchen to make myself a plate.

Just as Demyx said, platters of food still remain albeit less filled. I take note of Kairi and Sora talking quietly at the dining table and resolve to get my food and leave as quickly and inconspicuously as I can.

"Imani."

My ears perk to the hushed voice. Over my shoulder, I spot Riku standing against the wall, his jade eyes lit with curiosity. "What're they doing?" he mouths, pointing in the direction of the dining table.

"Talking," I mouth back. "Don't spy on them!"

"I'm not spying!" He puffs his cheeks out childishly, spins on his heels, and stalks back to the couch.

_He hasn't changed at all since high school,_ I note fondly, returning to the food.

Then, footsteps walk up and halt directly behind me. "Are you really going to eat all that?"

I want to turn around and tease Riku about eavesdropping on Sora and Kairi. After we argue more, we'll return to the living room and eat and play and talk with everyone else. From then we'll all probably fall asleep and wake up tomorrow and make plans for the rest of winter break.

Riku isn't the one standing behind me, though. Riku doesn't make my heart go a hundred miles a minute with one word. Riku never casually stands close enough to splay his warm breath across the back of my head. Riku can't make my insides writhe uncontrollably without even touching me.

_"He was up here for at least an hour, watching over you."_

"I'm hungry," I answer simply, secretly relieved that my voice didn't quiver.

"Slept off all the eggnog already, huh?"

I set down the pair of tongs and sidestep to the next platter. "I guess so. What do you think? You were keeping track of how long I've been sleeping upstairs, right?"

Something in the air shifts. I can feel him become tense behind me.

"I heard you seemed a bit distracted throughout the party," I go on, carefully placing my plate in an empty space to try opening a bottle of salad dressing. "Demyx and everyone else thought you were worried about me."

He chuckles lightly but his body doesn't relax. "You say that as if the idea is impossible."

"Nothing is impossible. I just think the idea is highly unlikely."

"Do you now?"

Steadily his hands appear on either side of me and grip the counter. I freeze, clenching the bottle and wondering if I should put it down or try squirting some dressing in his face. I can't seem to do either, though. I can't even breathe correctly.

"What would change your mind?" he murmurs in my ear. "Would something I say or do make any difference to you?"

His voice still holds that sultry quality, but now there are different tones weaved in…they sound _honest_…

"I was worried about you," he barely whispers, moving closer and closer. "I couldn't keep myself from not thinking about you, even though I knew you were only sleeping up there. I couldn't stand being in the same building but not within five feet of you."

His words take my breath away. I can feel the heat from his skin radiating onto my back and shoulders and neck. I need only lean back a little and…

Pita chips.

_"Jackass! I already got everything else on the list and you're still stuck on a bag of chips?"_

I dart my eyes away from the opened bag, pain constricting around my heart and my vocal chords, relentlessly tightening with every passing moment. "What would changing my mind do for you?" I whisper. "You're only slipping empty words into my ears. It makes no difference to you how seriously I take them if you can only boost your ego a little bit more."

He's silent for a long moment but he makes no move to increase or decrease the space between us. "You really know how to kill a moment, don't you?" he sighs.

"I only kill the moments of false sincerity," I murmur, finally able to set the bottle down. "And the moments I know others will bug me for because they're watching from the sidelines."

I glance towards the dining table. Both Kairi and Sora have stopped their conversation to observe us. When I meet their gazes they quickly turn back to each other and pretend to talk.

A warm hand grasps my wrist. "Come with me."

He drags me to the double-doors leading to Luxord's back patio, yanking it open and stomping into the cold night. The chill of the ceramic tiles seeps through my socks as he shuts the door and whirls around to face me.

"False sincerity?" he growls in full voice. "What makes you so sure I'm lying?"

"Why should I tell you that?" I bite back. "So you can lie more convincingly next time?"

"I wasn't lying! I was worried about you!"

"Worried, huh? Worried that you wouldn't get to tease me or do something perverted to me while we were both here?"

"Worried that you'd gotten food poisoning."

My tongue trips on the comeback I'd prepared. "F-Food poisoning?"

He rubs his face tiredly, sighing long and slow. "Vexen's a bit of a scatterbrained science geek. When I heard you'd drank some of the eggnog he made, I thought you got sick because Vexen accidentally slipped some weird chemical in."

That's…quite a strong and detailed assumption. "You thought he'd do something like that?"

He snickers darkly. "I _know_ he'd do something like that. He was in charge of mixing the drinks for a party at his house a few years ago and his concoction sent us all to the hospital."

"You've known Vexen?" I blink incredulously.

"Of _course_ I know Vexen. I used to work at Radiant Garden."

"Y-You?" I stutter, my mouth gaping. "You? _You?_"

"_Me,_" he huffs. "That's how I know everyone—Luxord, Roxas, Zexion…"

_Larxene,_ I fill in mentally, realization (and relief?) dawning on me. _So _that's_ why they seemed so comfortable with each other last night at the grocery store._

"I can't believe how stubborn you are." He crosses his arms against the frosty air. "I'm tired of trying to convince you."

As I run through his words several times in my head, I study his face for any sign of deceit or lack of concern. "So you _were_ worried about me?" I ask hesitantly.

"For the third time, _yes_, I was worried," he groans exasperatedly. "Friends worry about each other, in case you haven't heard."

_Friends._ The pain lodged in my chest intensifies and the word doesn't sit right in my head. _Friends._ The more I repeat the word, though, the duller the pain becomes. _Friends._

Why am I feeling pain, anyway? He and I are _friends_. Logically, _friends_ aren't supposed to cause pain in their _friends'_ chests and stomach.

I set aside the mystery and offer a small smile to him. "Friends, huh?"

Instead of a smirk, Axel's lips draw into a full smile. "Friends. Got it memorized?"

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **Hah! It took me a few hours to come up with a good way to end the chapter. I actually wanted to use the phrase "Actions speak louder than words" but I thought it'd be too soon. Thank you for reading! Please review!


	9. When Science Spells It Out for Me

**Author's Comments: **I don't know about you, but these past five days passed by so quickly! I've been so busy--I couldn't even begin to think about the next chapter! I didn't get to start writing this until last night, I think. Thank you for waiting and for your kind reviews. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do own Imani.

* * *

For the next week Professor Aerith's most well-used reminder replays in my head: _"In all things, certain factors in certain combinations can sometimes catch us off guard and confuse us. It's important to consider all factors and all possibilities that arise because of these factors, especially in medical sciences."_

The first ten times she gives that piece of advice, every student—including me—would nod fervently in hopes that the words would settle into the right crevices of the mind and actually be comprehendible. After that, though, we'd learn to tune out the constantly repeated couple of sentences and just focus on our labs or assignments. It took me a few times to really understand what it was she meant.

The professor's quiet serene voice started invading my thoughts not five minutes after stepping back inside with Axel to get my abandoned plate of food.

_Friends, huh?_ I mull, finding myself stealing more than a few glances at my fiery-headed, sultry-voiced _friend._

For the next week, like any scientist who finds herself with a conundrum, I analyze.

_Case study 1: Kairi—dorm mate's cousin, HBU junior majoring in Communications_

"AFTER CHRISTMAS SALES!" she screams, bursting into the café with countless shopping bags hanging from her arms. "I TOTALLY _SCORED_ TODAY!!"

_Observations: Likes shopping and visiting her friends at work. Can be very loud._

"I'm pretty sure I burned off all the food I ate yesterday!" Kairi dumps her bags around an empty table, pulling out her wallet and jogging to stand in line. "I'm starving now! I gotta eat before I turn myself anorexic! I get discount because I'm your friend, right, Imani? I kinda bought a lot today, y'know."

_Revised observations: Gets high off of shopping. Has no qualms about disturbing the peace at her friend's workplace. Doesn't know a thing about anorexia._

"Did you make that pasta salad? That looks divine! Give me some of that!"

_Further observations: No fluttering insides. No boiling anger towards her sudden presence. Smiling, laughing, light chiding for causing a riot. _

_Conclusion: Kairi equals friend._

"Are you writing something, Imani?" Namine quietly asks, smiling softly. "You're using the notebook Kairi gave you for Christmas."

_Case study 2: Namine—dorm mate, HBU junior majoring in Art_

She sighs peacefully as she unfolds her glasses and carefully puts them on. "I almost wanted to major in English because I love writing so much. It's easier for me to express myself when I'm drawing or painting, though."

_Observations: Likes writing but loves art. Quiet and calm._

"I tried writing a novel in a month as part of this popular annual challenge, but I could barely push through my writer's block. By the time the month ended, I only wrote five-thousand words!" She giggles. "Pretty sad, huh?"

_Revised observations: Unafraid to admit certain faults. Is comfortable in her own skin. Likes chatting with those she considers friends._

"So how is Aden doing? You talked to him on the phone yesterday, didn't you?"

_Further observations: No need for cautiousness or secrets or suspicion. Easy breathing, total relaxation. _

_Conclusion: Namine equals friend._

Demyx cups his hand above his eyes and peers towards the overcast sky. "Can you believe it's almost January and it hasn't snowed at all yet? Weird for Hollow Bastion."

_Case study 3: Demyx—childhood peer, former HBU student majoring in Marine Science, band member of Melodious Nocturne_

"It'd be even better if it rained, though." He grabs my hand and starts swinging our arms. "Remember when you, Aden, and me ran around in my backyard during that storm when we were like six? That was so much fun!"

_Observations: Likes rain…or water in general. Likes reminiscing and having fun._

"Oh yeah, but if it rains now, it'd be super cold and we'd probably freeze or catch pneumonia. Good that it's not raining or snowing then."

_Revised observations: Easy to sway, laidback, somewhat innocent._

"My mom scolded us so badly that time. I remember you had to wear some of my old clothes so you wouldn't catch a cold. We watched cartoons and ate grilled cheese sandwiches after."

_Further observations: No unfamiliar warmth from touching hands. No racing heartbeat from contact. Comfortable laughter._

"I feel like eating a grilled cheese sandwich now. And watching cartoons."

_Conclusion: Demyx equals best friend._

And so on it goes. After analyzing the various people I encounter throughout the week, I'm left with a hesitant sense of relief. I can smile and laugh, but I'm still holding my breath.

"Imani, you work too hard. Sit _down_ for a few minutes, won't you?"

"At least steal a cookie once in a while. Jeez."

"Steal the burnt ones. I need to _sell_ my cookies, remember?"

_Tifa, Belle, Olette, Selphie equal friends._

"It was a good thing I decided not to curl your hair for the Christmas party. Your nap would've ruined the whole look."

_Luxord equals friend. I guess._

"Aw, you're _working_ today? I wanted you to come over to our hotel room and play this new video game my mom bought me for Christmas. Riku and Demyx and everyone else—even Roxas—will be there."

_Sora equals friend._

"Maybe you can come after you finish with work. I can pick you up if you need a ride."

_Roxas equals newly acquired friend._

Of course, there are certain factors I ignore completely from my analyses.

"So what were you two talking about at the party?" Kairi asks, a sly smirk on her face as she takes her bowl of pasta salad.

"Kairi and Sora said they saw you and Axel talking in the kitchen." Namine leans forward slightly. "They said you two were standing pretty close to each other."

"So did you and Axel make out on the back patio at Luxord's?"

_Riku equals newly converted non-friend. Temporarily…maybe._

I click my pen with a sigh. They're all such different people but they're all my friends. The only similar factor among them is the lack of control over my insides and my heart. Logically that means friends don't cause those sorts of reactions.

_Does that mean Axel_ isn't _a friend?_

With a groan I slam my notebook shut and smash my face into its cover. This doesn't make sense.

* * *

"Twenty-ten…" Kairi lets the words roll around in her mouth. "We can't really say 'oh-ten'. The 'oh' doesn't work anymore."

Sora nods, his cheeks puffing out in thought. "…What about 'one-oh'?"

She shakes her head. "That doesn't sound any better than 'oh-ten'."

"I guess we'll have to stick with 'twenty-ten' then. What do you think, Imani?"

I blink, darting my eyes from the passing city outside to meet Sora's blue eyes in the rearview mirror. "I'm surprised you remembered that I'm here."

They both laugh. "Either that or you forgot that we were here," Sora counters. "We're almost there, by the way."

"Lady Luck!" Kairi cheers as she turns a corner. "I'm telling you, Sora. Lady Luck's _way_ better than Three Wishes."

"Is not! Three Wishes was pretty sweet. Their sound system kicks Lady Luck's ass."

I tune out their little argument, silently praying I can keep myself awake until midnight.

* * *

A scantily clad waitress with bunny ears and a monocle stops by our table. "Any drinks here?" she asks.

"Two beers and a vodka," Xigbar immediately responds, his one visible eye traveling up and down her body as she hops off.

I roll my eyes. "Just ask her for a Sex on the Beach, already."

"That only works with the bartender," he roars above the loud dance music. "I don't swing that way, kiddo."

"Really?" Riku quirks an eyebrow at him. "What about that time you and Xaldin were—"

"NO!" Demyx screams, slapping his hands over my ears. "Not in front of Imani! Don't scar Imani!"

"That was freaking hilarious!" The silver-haired boy downs the rest of his beer. "Too bad no one was around to videotape it."

"We were drunk," Xigbar shakes his head. "That was nothing."

"I don't want to know," I moan, pulling Demyx's hands away from my head. "Change the subject, please."

Riku laughs, jerking a thumb at the huge countdown display made up of many different clocks—grandfather clocks, digital clocks, and wristwatch clocks galore—hanging on the wall. "Nine sixteen," he reads off. "Less than three hours of the year left."

My shoulders sag. _Three hours?_ I don't know if I can stay up that long.

"When's Axel supposed to get here?" Xigbar asks.

Demyx scratches the back of his head nervously as he glances to the club entrance. "He had work today but he's supposed to get off around ten. He said he'd come here after."

"Two beers and a vodka!" the bunny waitress announces, setting the drinks on the table. "Anything else?"

I lean across the table towards her. "Do you have anything with caffeine?"

Her face scrunches thoughtfully. "Not normally, but I think we have some tea in the back. Should I get you some?"

"_Please_."

As she hops off again, Kairi strides over and plops down next to Riku. "You guys gotta get on the dance floor!" she yells. "Even Luxord's dancing!"

"Because you forced him to," Xigbar mutters into his vodka shot.

"Come on!" She tugs on Riku's arm. "Please?"

"I'll go if Imani and Demyx go." He eyes the two of us almost as if he were placing a dare on our consciences.

Demyx leaps up off his seat. "Count me in!"

"Come on, Imani!" Kairi shouts, continuing to tug Riku out of the booth. "Dance with us!"

"I'm too tired to dance!" I complain. "And I'm waiting for my tea!"

"Drink your tea later! Dancing will wake you up!"

Xigbar pushes me towards the end of the booth. "Go on, Imani. You're better off dancing the night away than sitting around waiting for Axel to show up."

With a final shove he forces me to stand up. I whip around to stare at him incredulously, sputtering, "Who said I was waiting for him?"

"You keep glancing at the club entrance," he shrugs. "Figured you were hoping to see a certain special someone step in and sweep you off your feet."

My jaw drops. "I-I was not doing that! And he's not special!"

"Okay enough arguing!" Demyx quickly grabs my hand and pulls me away from the table. "Let's dance!"

Reluctantly I follow, Kairi's drunken laughter and Riku's exasperated groans trickling close behind. Sora, Roxas, and Namine wave us over and we all start dancing, some of us less enthusiastic than others.

"Where's Luxord?" Kairi shouts to Sora who shrugs.

"I think he left," Roxas yells back.

"Dammit!" Kairi stomps off, screaming over her shoulder, "I'm gonna go find him!"

Demyx laughs, taking hold of my arms and swaying them this way and that. "Dance, Imani, dance!"

With a snort I finally cave in, losing myself to music and laughter and heavily perfumed air and flashing lights—

"Hello?" Demyx screams into his phone. "Axel?"

Snapping out of my daze, I watch him run off before whipping my head to the countdown display. Ten fifty-two.

_Already?_ I weave between the dancers to get back to the table. _How'd I get so far into the crowd?_

"Hey there!" Xigbar waves a hand. Sitting next to him are Cloud, Leon, and…Tifa and Professor Aerith?

"Imani!" Tifa smiles. "How's it going?"

I gape between Cloud and Leon and Tifa and my professor. "Y-You all know each other?"

"We're very good friends," Professor Aerith explains, her voice barely louder than the music. "Tifa and I were just getting acquainted with Mr. Xigbar."

"_Very_ well acquainted." Xigbar winks.

Both Cloud and Leon glare at him. "Don't even think about it" they seem to growl.

"What a surprise," I laugh. "By the way, Xigbar, did my tea come yet?"

Unfazed by the death glares, he points to a red mug filled with dark liquid. "Right here."

The moment I touch the mug to pick it up, disappointment crashes in my face like a tidal wave. The tea isn't steaming and the mug isn't searing my fingertips. I hesitantly take a sip, grimacing as I swallow. "It's already cold."

"Well, yeah. It's been sitting here for over an hour."

Exhaling loudly, I set the cup down again. "It doesn't taste like the temperature would make any difference. It's too bitter. Can you pass me my purse?"

"You going somewhere?" Tifa asks.

"To get coffee," I answer, taking my purse from Cloud. "You guys want anything?"

"I don't think you can bring outside food and drinks into the club," Professor Aerith says uncertainly.

"Aw man," Demyx groans, rubbing the back of his head tiredly as he returns from his phone call. "Axel has to stay later for his shift. He won't be here for another half an hour at least."

Something in my chest sinks. Another half an hour?

Demyx notices my purse and his eyebrows shoot up. "Where're you going?"

"Coffee," I tell him, pushing past and heading for the exit quickly to justify my fluttering heartbeat.

* * *

Once again, I flip open my cell phone to check the time. Eleven fifty-seven.

My chair scrapes against the pavement as I get up to leave the café. Thank goodness I don't have to walk far to get back to Lady Luck.

Suddenly my phone rumbles and lights up with Demyx's name. My thumb wedges between the solid flaps and opens it. "Hello?"

"Where are you? It's almost midnight!"

"I'm heading back now. I just finished my coffee."

"Is Axel with you?"

I draw my eyebrows together. "No. Why?"

"He hasn't come yet. I tried calling him but he isn't answering."

"I'm sure he's on his way," I say to try reassure Demyx's nervous tone. "Try calling him again and I'll look out for him on my way."

"O-Okay."

I snap my phone shut. Eleven fifty-eight.

I sigh as I dump my empty cup into a trashcan, the club entrance in sight. For once, I'm glad Kairi decided to come here for New Year's. Everyone else seems to be celebrating at Three Wishes—there's no line to get into Lady Luck.

"Imani!"

My heart guns to life. Slowly I turn to face the owner of the voice.

A panting wild redhead bends over, placing his hands on his knees and trying to catch his breath. His white dress shirt clings to his limbs and his tie dangles with every breath he takes.

"Heh," Axel smirks, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Made it."

_Case study…what number did I leave off on?_

"You wouldn't believe how busy the hospital was today," he puffs, steadily standing back to full height and striding over. "God, what was I thinking, taking the extra shift?"

_Axel—best friend's dormer form mate. No, _former dorm mate_. HBU Graduate student interning at Hollow Bastion Medical Center and studying for a Ph.D._

"What time is it?" His acid green eyes flick to the club entrance. "Never mind. They've started counting down."

_Observations: Has pretty eyes. _

Those eyes flick over to meet mine, a playful glint illuminating them. "You going in?"

_Revised observations: Has pretty eyes and a beautiful voice._

"They're at fifteen seconds already, you know."

_Further observations: Racing heartbeat. Labored breathing. Frozen limbs. Churning insides. Failure to command eyes to look away._

He widens his smirk. "Five."

_Conclusion: Axel equals…_

"Four." Did he just get closer?

_A-Axel equals…_

"Three." He _is_ moving closer!

I open my mouth to protest when I realize something terrifying: I'm not moving away.

"Two."

His fingers crawl around my neck, holding me in place as his face looms even closer. _Axel eq…_

He barely whispers, "One."

As the crowd in the club screams "Happy new year!" Axel closes the distance, melding his lips over mine.

_Soft lips. He's kissing me. Soft, warm lips. He's _kissing_ me!_

After what seems like ages he pulls away. "Happy new year, Imani," he murmurs, withdrawing his hand from my neck and stepping into the club.

_Noted aftereffects: Wobbly knees. Dropped purse. Remnants of his cologne in the air._

_Mental status (estimated): Fifteen percent outrage at having first kiss stolen by womanizer, eighty-five percent blissful indifference to having first kiss stolen by womanizer._

_Also see "Further observations" and multiply noted effects by one thousand._

A shaking hand reaches up to touch my lips. The warmth still lingers on my neck skin and my mouth.

_Conclusion: Axel equals non-friend._

"Imani!" Demyx skids to a halt before me, grasping my shoulders and giving them a slight shake. "You okay? What's wrong?"

I slap my still-trembling hand over my mouth completely, darting my widened, horrified eyes to meet his concerned gaze. _Oh crap._

He studies me for a moment but soon a huge smile breaks across his face. "About time," he laughs, pulling me into a tight hug. "About time."

_Axel equals love interest._

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **Happy new year! Hope this chapter made your day. I'll try to update as soon as I can. Thank you for reading! Please review!


	10. When I Accidentally Take A Shovel to Dig

**Author's Comments:** Hi. Hope your day is going well. If not, then I hope this chapter will cheer you up. It might not, though--I got a little depressed writing it. I wasn't quite sure where I was going with this chapter but somehow it turned out like this. Thank you for waiting!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts (or its theme song). I do own Imani.

* * *

I blink and straighten my back. "Huh?"

"Go home," Tifa repeats, reaching out to take the wet rag and bottle of cleaner from my hands. "Something's wrong and it's messing up your work performance. Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"I-I did," I protest and reach out to take back the rag and the bottle. "I got seven full hours."

"You mean you were in bed for seven full hours," she reiterates skeptically. "How many of those hours did you spend asleep?"

…_Three. No, two._

Instead of answering, I ask, "Am I really messing up that badly?"

She cocks an eyebrow, pulling the rag and bottle away from my reach. "You switched the measurements for sugar and baking soda in the cookie batter today."

My eyes widen and I gasp in shock. "Not!"

"You spent fifteen minutes sweeping that back corner alone. Normally you cover the whole place in ten."

"I didn't!"

"You burnt the garlic toast three times."

My shoulders sink, the weight of my errors too heavy on my conscience. "No way…"

"Go home." Without giving me a chance to object, she finishes wiping the table I'd been working on.

* * *

I sip my glass of water, staring at Demyx over the top. "So what did you want to talk about?"

He averts his gaze momentarily. "I kinda figured _you'd_ have something you wanted to talk about. Tifa called Cloud who called me and told me you were acting weird at work."

Just the slightest I flinch. "R-Really…?"

Demyx leans forward, resting his forearms on the table between his utensils. "Is this because of your realization last night?"

Steadily I set my glass down and drown in his knowing blue eyes. "What do I do, Dem?" I moan. "I'm such a hypocrite."

"No you're not." He sighs. "You're just enlightened."

"But I don't know what to do now!" I cry, my fingers fiddling with the edges of my napkin. "I've never been in this situation before!"

His head nods patiently. "Yes you have. Remember Riku?"

"That was completely different," I protest, embarrassment tinting my cheeks pink. "Riku and I are good friends from high school. Riku isn't a player. Riku didn't purposefully bug me every second. Riku only got hold of me because I was physically attracted to him just like all his fangirls. I wasn't in love with him."

His eyebrows shoot up. "So you're in love with Axel?"

Heat overlaps my blush like a tidal wave. "Nnnnnn…maybe."

A cowbell jingles as Clarabelle trots over, a plate of steaming food in each hand. "Mushroom burger deluxe for Demyx," she places a plate before him, "and a veggie burger for Imani."

"Thanks!" Demyx grins and digs in as she leaves.

"Demyx!" I nearly whine, poking at my food. "What do I do?"

After swallowing a huge bite, he proclaims, "Celebrate."

I gape. "C-Celebrate? Celebrate _what?_"

"Graduating from your stubborn denial," he says simply. "You should celebrate your love for him by being openly honest with him and showing him how much he means to you."

My jaw drops and my eyes widen as I run the sentence through my head several times. No matter how many times I repeat it, the suggestion sounds completely ridiculous.

"You look at me as if I've grown an extra head."

"I could handle you having two heads better than making it completely obvious that I like Axel."

"You _love_ him. Don't reword your feelings."

I shake my head defiantly. "I'm not doing it. That's like confessing."

"Well you're gonna have to tell him _sometime_." He chomps his burger. "You can't just wait for him to figure it out on his own, especially if you intend to hide it from him."

"But if he finds out, then what? He'll take advantage of my feelings and then abandon me like all those girls he did when he was rooming with you."

"He won't. He's not that immature."

"Yes he is. You have no idea what he's put me through."

"I get that you're caught off guard at your feelings, but I think you're overreacting."

"Well _I_ think you're under…reacting…"

He snorts and waves a hand at my plate. "Eat. Your brain's exhausted from all the unnecessary stress you're piling up."

"It's not unnecessary! It's logical! It's _very_ necessary!"

"_Eat_." He eyes me, a warning flashing clearly and disappearing only when I reluctantly pick up my burger and take a bite. "How long has it been since you met Axel?"

"Twelve days," I mumble between bites. "For twelve days he's been torturing me."

Demyx wipes his mouth, humming thoughtfully into his napkin. "Huh. He's never spent _this_ much time giving attention to a girl."

"Because he's never met a girl who's been _this_ difficult to get into bed," I answer, rolling my eyes. _Don't bring my hopes up,_ I add mentally.

"Actually, he has. Larxene was way more difficult than you."

A bullet shoots through my chest. "L-Larxene…?"

"The massage therapist at Radiant Garden," he nods. "That was before she got hired, though."

"Ah…" I slowly nod, despair clouding my mind. So she's the kind of girl he goes after…

"It took him three days to convince her," Demyx continues, his lips smacking from the grease of his burger. "I don't know the details, but he offered her his position at Radiant Garden in order to get through to her."

I sputter, "He was a massage therapist?"

He nods again. "To this day, he's got mixed feelings about the whole thing. If he didn't convince her, he'd never have found the time to intern at the hospital and he'd never have had to know Larxene the bitch."

"That doesn't make sense." My eyebrows furrow. "Why would he bribe her with his _job_ in order to sleep with her?"

Demyx shrugs. He takes my purse, pulls out my cell phone, and plugs in a few numbers. "Ask him."

"What're you doing?" I ask despite knowing _exactly_ what he is doing. "Don't call him! It's fine. I don't care."

"You don't care why Axel went through so much effort to sleep with Larxene?" He gives me a doubtful glance, positioning the phone next to his ear. "Right."

"Don't call him!" I demand, dropping my burger and wiping my fingers quickly before reaching for the phone.

He pulls away, a sly grin on his face. "Hello? Axel? It's Demyx."

_Karma. _A little voice in my head reminds me that I did the same thing to Namine and Kairi, but I squash it immediately. "Hang up!" I hiss.

"Yeah, I'm using Imani's phone. She wants to ask you something."

"No I don't! Hang! UP!"

"I'll put her on." He holds it away long enough to give me a warning look. "_Don't_ hang up. Ask him."

The moment I have the phone in my hand, I press the red "end call" button. "Are you crazy?" I glare at him. "I'm not asking him."

"It's going to eat at your brain until you do," he sighs.

Stubbornly, I shrug and stuff my phone back into my bag. "I'll deal with it."

* * *

Sometimes I hate being stubborn. I get crap for it sooner or later.

_In you and I, there's a new land…_

"UGH! Stop calling me!" I resist the urge to throw my phone at the wall, opting for pressing the side button and silencing it.

Roxas chuckles, his pen scribbling across some paperwork. "Who's calling you?"

Once the "Missed Call" screen pops up (for the seventh time), I quickly flip open the phone and put it on silent mode. "Axel."

"Why's he calling you?"

"Because Demyx was trying to get me to ask him something but I didn't and now he's probably trying to bug me until I cave in and ask."

"That sounds like something he'd do," he says absentmindedly. "And you're here because you want to get rid of the stress he's causing you?"

I hesitate, my breath halting midway in my throat. "In a way…I guess."

He nods and scans the computer screen, a businesslike air settling around the front desk of Radiant Garden. "Should I try squeezing you in for a massage with Lexaeus?"

"Oh no," I shake my head, laughing nervously. "I'm not here for anything like that. I actually wanted to ask you something."

His eyebrows nearly disappear beneath his bangs. "Me?"

"Yeah." A slight quiver takes over my voice as jitters seize my heart. "It's about Axel and Larxene…"

"They're not going out, if that's what you're wondering." One corner of his mouth pulls up in a smirk. "He's free for your taking."

My words clog up my mouth and I'm left sputtering embarrassedly. "T-That's not it. It-It's about how Larxene got hired here."

"How she got hired?" he repeats.

"I heard Axel was involved somehow."

Setting down his pen and drumming his fingertips on the desktop, Roxas's forehead wrinkles as he forms his words into sentences. "I only know that Axel quit working here a few months before Larxene got hired and that they knew each other from a chance encounter at a bar. I think Axel recommended Larxene as his replacement since Lexaeus was getting slammed with customers."

I swallow thickly, garnering the courage to ask, "Have you heard anything about Axel convincing Larxene to sl…sleep with him to get the job?"

His face twists into a grimace. "_Axel_ sleeping with _Larxene?_ Gross!"

"Shhh!" I jam a pointer finger to my lips frantically. "So you _don't_ think they'd do that?"

"Hell no!" he hisses. "Who'd want to sleep with _her?_"

"I heard my name."

We share a despairing look as we turn towards the voice. Larxene, arms crossed and eyebrow quirked skeptically, taps one foot impatiently as Roxas and I stutter.

"You must have heard incorrectly," I shrug, plastering an undisturbed mask on my face.

"No, I don't think I did," she drawls, her antenna-like bangs bobbing slightly. "What was that about me and Axel?"

"Nothing!" I shift my bag on my shoulder and spin on my heel, calling my goodbye to Roxas.

* * *

"Eleven missed calls," I read aloud, exiting out of the screen before being launched into a new notice. "Four new voice messages."

"Well aren't you the social butterfly today?" Kairi comments. Her eyes are glued to the computer screen, an occasional clicking breaking the silence of the room.

I roll my eyes. "They're all from the same person."

"Who?" Click click.

"Guess. Fourteen new text messages."

"Axel?"

I nibble my lip in mild frustration. Of _course_ she'd guess correctly on the first try. She didn't even pause to think. "Should I listen to the voice messages or read the texts first?"

"Why's he calling and texting you so much?" Click.

"It's not important." Deciding on the text messages after realizing that hearing his very attractive voice might give me a heart attack, I open up my inbox and scroll to the first message from him.

_Imani. It's Axel. Give me a call._ Delete.

"Tell me," Kairi insists. Click.

_I know you're there. Call me._ Delete.

"You don't need to know."

_What the hell, Imani? CALL._ Delete.

"But I _want_ to know.

_You had a question for me right? Tell me. _Delete.

_You're not mad at me, are you? If you aren't then call. Or text. Texting works, too._ Delete.

_Demyx says you're not mad at me so why aren't you calling me? _Delete.

_This is getting REALLY stupid, Imani. Call me, dammit._ Delete.

"Imani! Tell me."

I roll over on the bed. "It's not worth telling."

_If you're not gonna call or text, I'm gonna hunt you down. Commit it to memory._ Delete.

_I WILL FIND YOU. _Delete.

"Whoa," Kairi exclaims, her voice inches from my ear. "He sounds stalkerish."

I scream, backing up against the wall next to the bed. "Don't read over my shoulder!"

_Not at workplace. Professor Aerith said you had today off. _Delete.

"Then tell me what's going on!" she whines, crawling onto the bed to catch sight of my cell phone screen again.

_You work at two places? You're crazy. _Delete.

_Not at other workplace. I will find you…eventually. _Delete.

Kairi laughs and I manage a slight snort. "Wow, he's really set on finding you."

"Creep," I mutter.

_Not at Radiant Garden. Roxas said you stopped in though. _Delete.

_Where the hell are you?!_ Delete.

Finally my inbox is empty and clean. "He likes texting," I note pointlessly.

"What'd his voice messages say?" Kairi asks, taking my phone from me.

Before I can answer, though, the phone lights up with a new text message.

_One place left._

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I jump, my eyes darting to the door. "Oh no…"

"Ooh, what now, Imani?" Kairi taunts, handing me my phone and slipping off the bed to answer the door.

"No!" I hiss. "Don't!"

"Why?" she singsongs, her hand on the knob.

My heart pounds as I whirl around for a hiding spot.

Knock knock.

"Coming!" Kairi calls, turning her hand—

With a squeak I dash underneath my bed, sliding as close to the wall as I can and holding my breath.

"Hey Axel. What's up?"

"Hey."

That single word sends jolts of electricity through my limbs.

"Do you know where I can find Imani?"

Has he always pronounced my name that way? Damn those sultry tones.

"I'm sure she's around here somewhere. Have you tried looking for her at work?"

"I tried everywhere I could think of. I even tried Radiant Garden but Roxas couldn't give me any hints." Footsteps thump through the carpet as he enters fully and Kairi shuts the door.

He doesn't _sound_ very concerned about me. He sounds quite _relaxed_, in fact.

"You know what? I'll help you find her. She might be somewhere on campus."

My forehead creases. What's she saying? She knows where I am.

"That'd be _great_."

Another shiver crawls up my spine. Axel rolls his 'r's?

"I'll check the library. Sometimes she studies there and loses track of time. Be right back." She jogs to the door, yanks it open, then slams it shut.

…Oh. Now I get it.

"Where could she be?" Axel wonders aloud, a playful tone in his voice.

I _swear_ I'll get back at her for this.

"Maybe if I text her one more time…"

I bite my lip, my limbs tensing up in apprehension. Hopefully he doesn't notice the glow from my phone down here.

_In you and I, there's a new land…_

A gasp slips from my mouth. I thought my phone was on silent mode!

_My sanctuary, my san—_

Hurriedly I do whatever I have to in order to shut my phone up. My thumb ends up flipping the phone flaps apart to read the message.

_Found you._

Clothes rustle outside the bed and soon Axel's green eyes dip down to the space I hid--_trapped myself_ in. "Hey there," he purrs, laying down his head to see me better.

The moment I meet his gaze my heart kicks into fourth gear, the rapid beats filling my ears. I can only manage to look into his eyes for three seconds before the sparks stinging my eyes threaten to blind me for good.

"Did you get my messages?"

The carpet scratches my cheek as I nod. "I only read the texts," I mutter. "Didn't get around to listening to the voice messages."

"You didn't miss much, then."

_I'm sure I didn't. The "I WILL FIND YOU" messages spelled everything out just fine._

"I didn't sleep with Larxene."

Crap. I should've told Roxas not to mention anything.

"Almost did, but I had to chase her out because she was so sadistic," he goes on casually. "I bribed her with a possible job at Radiant Garden to get her to sleep with me. She needed a better-paying gig than being a waitress at a bar and I needed to get rid of my boredom. Turns out she wasn't worth it."

Sharp pangs stab at my gut with every word. He went through all that effort just because he was _bored?_

"Did that answer your question?"

A dangerous stinging sensation builds up behind my eyes. "Absolutely," I mutter.

"So we're clear, then?" he asks, a hand slithering closer to grab my wrist and burn my skin. "We're okay?"

Tightening my hold on my phone, I purse my lips to hold in my true thoughts as I nod stiffly and allow him to pull me out from underneath the bed.

_We're perfectly clear, but we're certainly not okay._

* * *

**Author's Afterthought:** I threw in a complete 360 mood swing! Hope you at least enjoyed reading what happens next. (Imani getting her heart broken is not enjoyable, of course.) I'll update as soon as I can--I started writing the next chapter. Please leave a review!


	11. When I'm Sent to the Doctor's

**Author's Comments: **I'm so sorry it took a while for me to update this story. Thank you for waiting! I hope you enjoy reading this!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts or the lyrics to Utada Hikaru's song "Sanctuary". I own Imani.

* * *

"Imani? Is something wrong?" Namine asks, placing a hand gently on my arm.

Suppressing a sigh, I bury myself deeper into the covers. "I'm fine."

"You sure you don't want to come with us to see the movie? You've been wanting to see it for a while."

The pillow rustles loudly against my ears as I shake my head. "I just want to sleep today. You go on with the others."

She sighs quietly, withdrawing and murmuring a "Hope you feel better soon" before leaving me to drown in my thoughts.

* * *

_In you and I, there's a new land…_

I loll my head towards my bedside table to watch my phone light up and vibrate as Utada Hikaru sings of angels and ethereal places for the sixth time.

_What's left of me, what's left of me now?_

The ringtone cuts off abruptly and my phone ceases its movement. I sigh, slapping my hand over it and dragging it to eye level so I can check the time.

_New voice message,_ the screen says. _One forty-seven._

A grimace twists my lips. I've been in bed that long?

_Yes you have,_ my empty stomach growls angrily.

Despite having no desire to get up, I push myself into a sitting position, my legs tangled in the sheets and my hair a complete mess. I suppose I'll fish out a few bills to pay for a bag of chips and some candy from the vending machine down the hall…

Knock knock.

I nearly moan aloud. Do I _have_ to answer it?

Grabbing my wallet, I drag my feet to the door and crack it open a few inches. Instantly the aroma of spicy curry fills my senses. I let my eyes travel from the white plastic bag full of takeout boxes up the arm that's carrying it and to a pair of slanted jade eyes.

"Riku," I half-state, half-question.

He smirks. "I brought food. Can I come in?"

I nod, stepping aside and opening the door fully. "What's all this about?" I ask, spotting a paper bag with my favorite bakery's logo in his other hand. "I thought you went to the movies with Namine and the rest."

"Five's a crowd," he shrugs and plops onto my bed. "I figured you'd appreciate my company more than those two pairs of lovebirds would."

For the first time today my lips curve into a smile. "I definitely appreciate that you brought me lunch."

"Lunch _and_ dessert," he corrects then adds as an afterthought, "and a listening ear if you want, but no pressure. Just remember that Kairi's gonna force it out of you anyway sooner or later so you might as well practice making your explanation short and sweet."

I laugh, shutting the door with a soft click and taking a seat next to him. "No pressure, huh?"

"Nope." He holds out two styrofoam containers. "No pressure."

* * *

_"You are _not_ a toy he can play with to cure him of his boredom. If he keeps convincing you otherwise, he's not worth it."_

Riku's words ring louder than the blaring bell at our old high school. My fingers itch with the urge to plug up my ears in an effort to muffle the declaration.

If I did that, though, Axel would see me and laugh.

"Can I flambé them?"

"For the last time, _no!_ What is it with you and setting things on fire?"

I thought Riku was doing me a favor when he reached for my cell phone and answered the call from Axel. After that long heart-to-heart we had about Axel's history with Larxene and the possibility that he might be using me, I thought Riku would warn Axel to stay the hell away from me. _Especially_ after he told me I'm not a toy, I thought Riku would interrogate Axel or at least sneak an insult into his eerily calm, two-minute-long phone conversation.

Only older brothers and close girl friends (and maybe even a few close guy friends) do those things. Fairly close (but not Demyx-close) guy friends, however, set up dinner dates.

_"Test the waters," he said. "Establish the ground rules for your friendship," he said._

Riku has no chance of reinstating himself as my friend.

"If I hadn't gone to HBU after high school, I think I'd be in jail for arson right now."

"How touching."

"You, now that I think about it, would probably be full of STDs and have rock-hard abs from all your lap-dancing if you didn't—"

"I _get_ it."

He could have at _least_ arranged for the date to be at a casual restaurant. I would've been less adamant about the whole thing if he'd even arranged for us to meet at a _bar_.

"Damn. The wine's too weak."

"Hey! Don't just add whatever you want to that!"

"But I wanna flambé!"

Instead I'm standing here in Axel's surprisingly tidy apartment kitchen, mashing potatoes while he sautés a few chicken breasts.

Steeling my heart to _not _jump and do cartwheels, I chance a glance to see how he's doing. Instantaneously my eyes narrow. "Put that down now."

He smirks at me over his shoulder but doesn't place the vodka bottle back onto the counter. "Why? Afraid I might slip some into your drink?"

"That's it." I give the potatoes one final smash before turning to the stovetop and reaching out for the panhandle. "We're switching."

"No, no, no," he shifts to block my path, "I got this."

He and I shuffle left and right as I reach unsuccessfully and he blocks successfully. "You keep turning up the heat when I specifically said to keep it at medium-high!" I argue, managing to at least switch the knob back down.

"_Oops_," he shrugs, not at all sorry. "Must've accidentally brushed my fingers there. I don't see what the problem is. Won't they cook faster on high heat?"

I shake some stray bangs out of my face. "You won't capture the flavors if you rush things."

He groans long and loud. "I'm starving."

"We just ate all the steamed vegetables I made." _The ones we were supposed to wait to eat until after _everything_ finished cooking._

"Exactly. _Vegetables._" Axel frowns down at me. "I'm not gonna get full off of _vegetables._"

I sigh, the air emptying my lungs of any urge to storm out in frustration without explaining why and cause more future problems dealing with Axel. "Finish mashing the potatoes, divide them between us _evenly_, and you can eat your share while I take care of those, then," I instruct, finally grasping the handle and shoving him aside.

He holds up his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine…heh…"

"_Heh"? Is he laughing at me?_ I shoot him a glare out the corner of my eye.

My glare softens as soon as I catch sight of his smile, laughter spilling out like a flood. "Seems I'm not the only one who's hungry," he snickers.

"What are you talking about?" I ask cautiously.

Suddenly he brushes a slightly rough fingertip across my cheek, holding it up for me to see. "Taste-testing much, Imani?"

The skin he touched feels like it's blazing as I scowl at the potato he swiped off. "Only once or twice," I mutter. "That bit must've splattered on me while I was mashing."

"Not just this bit." Soon my whole cheek feels like it's on fire as his fingers clean up the potato specks off my face. My eyes rove around the kitchen, determined to look at anything but him.

My own fingers clench the panhandle tightly. "Are you done yet?"

"One more spot," he murmurs.

I nearly moan in despair. Why am I always ending up in situations where his face is so close to mine? _Why?_

His thumb nears my face once more but suddenly he stops. "Tch. Ran out of clean fingers."

"Then use your other hand," I mumble. "Or get a napkin."

He does neither. In slow motion I watch with wide eyes as each finger disappears past his thin lips, emerging potato-less. The last finger he cleans—his thumb—travels straight across my lower lip from corner to corner.

Somehow my eyes grow wider. What the hell?!

"There," he smirks, pulling back and licking his thumb again. "All clean."

My lower lip tingles. It's like Axel's thumb was coated with gasoline.

"If I used my other hand I would've fallen onto you and the chicken would've gone flying," he says simply as if to answer my unspoken "what the hell". "The napkins were too far away."

_Testing the waters, huh?_

Axel sidesteps me and saunters to the bowl of mashed potatoes. "Delicious."

_More like diving headfirst into a tsunami._

* * *

He wipes the frying pan dry before storing it into a lower cabinet. "And that's the last of the dishes."

With a scoff I turn off the water. "Do you _ever_ use those dining plates?"

"What's the point when I can just eat out of the pan?" He offers me the dishcloth so I can dry my hands.

I chuckle quietly, folding the cloth and setting it on the counter when I finish. "Your kitchen, I suppose. You can do whatever you want."

"Exactly." Axel points a finger at me. "Glad you understand."

At the sight of his finger a lingering heat returns to my face. I hum nervously and glance away. "Why'd you agree to this?"

He looks at me confusedly. "To what?"

"This," I wave a hand to the whole kitchen. "This dinner thing."

His hand magnetically travels to the back of his head as he takes a moment to respond, "I heard you turned down _Avatar_ to hide in your dorm and mope."

"M-Mope?" I sputter. "I wasn't moping."

"Oh really?" He lets his hand quickly descend to his jeans pocket and whips out his cell phone, pressing a few buttons. "What _were _you doing, then? Burying yourself into your bed for _fun?_"

"I was _tired,_" I sigh, throwing up my hands in exasperation. "What's so unusual about turning down a movie out of exhaustion?"

"It depends what kind of exhaustion," he mutters, finally handing me his phone. "Physical exhaustion I can understand, but that doesn't look like it's the entire package."

As I study the picture on his phone, my eyes squint and blink to take in the image of a head of dark hair peeking out from some dark blue bed covers and framing a pale, crestfallen face. "Who's this?"

Axel rolls his eyes. "_You. _Duh."

My teeth grind against each other in an effort to spit out a denial, but then I realize I have dark blue bed covers that look _exactly_ like the ones in the picture.

"'Wanted: Prescription to cure blues.'" I read aloud the caption as if hearing the words aloud will help me register everything, no matter how ridiculous it seems. "'Recommendations, Dr. Axel?'"

"Your dorm mate's a sneaky one," he teases.

With a loud snap I shut his phone and glower at him. "I do _not_ have the blues."

A fine eyebrow perks up skeptically. "After observing you for the past hour, I'm going to have to disagree with you," he states in his professional, graduate-studying-for-a-Ph.D. tone.

"_Observing_ me?" I stammer as a dull ache settles in my chest. "You agreed to this so you could _observe_ me? What am I, a test subject?"

"You're a patient suffering from emotional distress," he calmly answers, his hip leaning against the counter easily. "Namine and Kairi weren't specific about what caused your illness, so I scheduled a private appointment to hopefully gather more information that will help me prescribe the right medication."

I purse my lips together, coating my words with sarcasm. "And what information proving I'm _emotionally distressed_ have you gathered so far, _doctor?_"

Axel patiently takes back his phone from my hand (setting my skin on fire in the process). "Exhibit A: You turned down _Avatar._"

"So? I can go see it another time."

"Today was the first free day you've had ever since the movie began showing. Kairi said you'd been hoping to see it for the past few _months_."

"I was _tired _today. I'll see it on a day I'm _not_ tired."

"Exhibit B," he goes on, "you were completely oblivious to Namine when she took the picture earlier. Even when you're fatigued, you always catch little details like that."

"I suppose Kairi told you that, too," I sneer, secretly cursing at the truth of his statements.

"A doctor must refer back to his patient's medical history," he counters. "You should know that."

This time I roll my eyes. "Of course I do, but medical history is _private_. No one but a patient and her doctor can discuss it."

He smirks. "But Kairi isn't a doctor. _I_ am."

My mind goes blank at the sight of his grin. I almost close my eyes to clear my head so I can come up with a retort. The best I can think of disappoints me terribly. "Then what exactly do you prescribe, _doctor?_"

Before my eyes, Axel's calm and collected demeanor cracks, the entire image now marred as his hand returns to the back of his head and rubs nervously. "…I don't know yet. I haven't learned much more than what Kairi and Namine told me."

I blink a few times and my heart nearly stops. He doesn't even appear _confident_ anymore.

"I was hoping you could tell me what's up," his green eyes flick to mine momentarily. "I can only observe what's happening with you on the outside."

The dull ache in my chest intensifies as the memory of his blunt confession yesterday plays in my head. Despite this, a (sad) smile grows on my face. "As a patient, I can refuse medical attention," I answer. "_If_ I were sick, I'd want to heal on my own."

The nervousness in his eyes gives way to…something else. "There's a lot of risk with that. You could get even more sick."

Gulping down my scream at the sudden weight of the air, I breathe deeply and murmur, "If I do, _maybe_ I'll schedule another appointment."

"You could need more than a simple prescription by then." Red hair sways as he shakes his head. "You could need to be placed in intensive care."

_I think I already do._

"Thank you for your advice…doctor."

* * *

Both Kairi and Namine greet me when I open the door to the dorm. Kairi's hand grabs my wrist and yanks me in, dragging me to my bed as she demands every last detail.

"Ee-_mah_-nee!"

I curl my fingers into my palms and groan. "What?"

"You had plenty of opportunities to leave hints!" Kairi cries. "I can't believe you!"

"Hints?" The moment I utter the word, dread clings to my conscience like the medical tape at the nurse's office when I'm trying to cut off a piece and stick somewhere else besides my fingers.

"That you love him! Like when he said something about finding the right medication for you, you should've said something like, '_You're_ the right medication, doctor. A daily dose of you will make me feel _really_ good.'"

"Oh _heck_ no."

"Or you could've let him in on what was bothering you. Or you could tell _me_ why you were moping—"

"I was _not_ moping!" I almost shout, the discomfort of almost having a painful secret revealed lingering in my gut and eating at my brain. "Nothing's bothering me."

Kairi scoffs. "Don't give me that. Why won't you tell us? You still haven't told me why Axel was chasing you down so much yesterday."

"I'm surprised he didn't kiss you again," Namine comments, gracefully changing the subject for my sake. "He could've licked off that piece of potato on your lip instead of licking his fingers clean."

"That would've been _so_ amazing!" Kairi gushes, undisturbed and easily distracted. "Then you two would've forgotten all about dinner and started making out and—"

"_Stop_, Kairi! Go back to your dorm."

* * *

**Author's Afterthought:** This was the hardest chapter to write yet. I didn't know what I wanted to happen. Please, please, please let me know what you think about this chapter. I feel a bit brain-dead.


	12. When a Week Becomes Too Much

**Author's Comments: **Wow, I think it's been almost a week since I last updated! I'm so sorry. I just couldn't get this chapter to flow well. I hope you enjoy reading this much more than I enjoyed having to put up with my writer's block.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts or the lyrics to "Love You Anyway" by BoyZone or "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon. I own Imani.

* * *

Kairi won't shut up.

"He _said_ that?!" she cries in outrage, nearly dropping her books all over the floor. "That haughty _bastard!_"

"Just drop it, Kairi." I trudge up the stairs, my feet slapping heavily on the steps. "At least be a little less obvious that you're upset."

"Imani! Why didn't you tell me he was torturing you like this?" She weaves an arm around mine and gives a gentle squeeze. "You know I don't mean to pry, but you had us really worried when you were clamming up. Haven't I told you it's—"

"It's unhealthy to keep everything to myself," I recite monotonously. "I know. I didn't want to mention anything."

"Why not? We're your friends!"

"You've already got a lot on your plate what with Sora back in town. Namine, too, now that she's started something with Roxas. I thought you could use a listening ear more than a new batch of problems concerning Axel."

"That's no…" Kairi heaves a sigh, coming to a halt in front of a lecture hall door. "You know what? I guess I can understand. You've never been in a situation like this before. I can't really expect you to know that I won't care if you unload your troubles even when I've got my own."

"Well, now I know."

She shoots me a sidelong, suspicious glance. "But will you remember?"

"I will," I answer after a moment of hesitation.

"I don't ever want you to keep something like that from me." She releases my arm and points a manicured finger in my face. "You're _banned_ from not telling either Namine or me something that's really bothering you."

I reel back both from her finger and her declaration. "W-What?"

"You're not allowed to exceed a week…no," she sticks up three more fingers, "four days without mentioning it."

"Why not a week?" I wonder despite my shock. "That's how long it took for me to bring _this_ up."

"You've got too much at stake to keep it in that long." She retracts her hand to count off, "This past week, you screwed up at work big time, you could hardly concentrate in class, and on your days off you've done nothing but hide in your bed and eat junk food because of this."

"Dark chocolate-covered pomegranates are a _very_ good source of antioxidants," I point out.

"Four days," she repeats, backing up to head further down the hallway for her class. "Namine and I _will_ be watching you."

"You sound like a stalker," I call back.

Kairi laughs and waves. "We're continuing our talk when I finish my classes!"

I roll my eyes. "Fine."

"And you!" She points a finger at something to my left. "You'd better not bug her or else you'll be hearing from me!"

_Who's she talking to?_ I scrunch my nose in puzzlement.

"Well _that's_ a great way to greet a friend," a voice chuckles.

…_Oh._

Axel turns to me with a careful yet amused glare. "What's she threatening me for?"

"How should I know?" I shrug, stepping into my next class.

"Have you been telling her that I've been bugging you?" He tags closely behind.

My short hair almost whips me in the face as I shake my head. "I haven't said anything!"

As soon as I set my things down on an empty desk, he plops into the nearest vacant one, leaning forward slightly. "Do you think I'm annoying?"

_If you're talking about your ego when it comes to women, then yes. Other than that…_

I slide into my seat, careful to keep my distance from his face and my eyes from locking with his for too long. "Do you _really_ want me to answer that?"

He gasps dramatically. "Imani! I thought we were friends!"

There it is. That word that makes my chest hurt.

I laugh partially at his funny reaction and partially to cover up my flinch. "Well, if you and I are friends—"

Damn. My voice cracked.

"—then it wouldn't matter if I thought you were annoying, right?" I reason as I pull out last night's homework. "Friends see past the things that make a person annoying."

He hums thoughtfully, (_finally_) leaning back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling. "That reminds me of one of Demyx's songs."

As if on cue, Demyx's beautiful, emotional voice sings in my head backed up by several guitars, a loud drum set, and a keyboard. I know _exactly_ which song Axel's thinking about.

_I'm delirious. Are you serious? What goes on in your head? I'm just curious._

"The BoyZone cover," he reiterates, mistaking my wide eyes for confusion.

"I know," I huff and glare at him.

_Cause I'm hanging here, got me dangling here. Think your love, oh your love has got me off my head._

"That song's about love, though," I argue. "Not friendship."

_It's unbelievably hard to love you but I love you anyway._

He lifts one shoulder in a shrug. "Yeah, but it still works."

_I've been trying too hard not to love you but I love you anyway._

"Good morning, class!" Professor Aerith says. Thankfully Axel turns to face the front of the class and the subject is dropped before I have to answer.

_It most definitely still works,_ I sigh.

* * *

"Why do all your songs have to be about love?"

His nimble fingers still mid-song as he glances up, his bangs covering his eyes. "Huh?"

"They're all about _love_," I comment sourly, hugging the pillow in my arms tighter. "First love, love at first sight, breaking up, getting back together again, finding a new love, taking revenge over a lost love…"

"I can stop playing if you want me to," he hints, eyes half-lidded at my frustration. "You just have to tell me."

I sigh, shaking my head. "Sorry. I didn't mean to insult you. You can keep playing."

Demyx lifts his head completely, his blue eyes narrowing slightly as he studies me. "Would you rather I play something else?"

"…Only if you want to," I shrug.

"Mmkay." His fingers immediately start strumming and picking at his sitar strings, humming an eerily familiar tune. His eyes slip closed as his lips part to sing the first words, "_I've been roaming around. I was looking down at all I see._"

My heart stops. Uh-oh.

"_Painted faces fill the places I can't reach._"

He peeks his eyes open at me, a devious sparkle lighting them up.

"_You know that I can use somebody…_"

He's trying to make me crack.

"_You know that I can use somebody…_"

No…I _won't_ crack…

"_Someone like you—_"

"Stop!" I cry, burying my face into the pillow. "Not that song!"

"I knew it!" he shouts, halting his fingers' plucking. "This _is_ about Axel."

My head whips up to glare moodily at him. "You could've just _asked_."

"Well you might not have told me anything," he protests. "Sora says you've been acting weird lately."

Kairi means well, but sometimes I really hate her big mouth.

"If I ask why you're being so picky about what songs I play for you and what that has to do with Axel, will you answer?" he asks warily.

"You already know why," I sulk. "Don't make me say it out loud."

"What'd you come here for, then? When you asked if you could come to my hotel room to 'hang out'," he air-quotes, "I figured you wanted to talk about him."

"I wanted to get a song out of my head." I throw the pillow aside with a little more force than I intended, sliding off the huge queen-sized bed and slinging my bag over one shoulder.

With a shrug he begins idly strumming his sitar again. "Maybe the nurse's office will be so busy with stupid freshmen that you won't have time to replay whatever song you had in your head."

"That's…not really something I should be hoping for, Dem."

"Just trying to be a supportive best friend since singing for you obviously didn't work."

* * *

My eyes dart to the curly-haired girl again and she quickly looks away. "Is there something on my face?" I ask dryly.

"No!" she quickly answers.

With a sigh I go back to tweezing out a few splinters in her fingers. "Okay…"

The office lapses into sterile silence as I carefully tug and clean.

"I was just wondering…"

Slightly startled, I yank out a wood flint harshly and earn a surprised cry from the girl. "Sorry," I grimace, carrying the tweezers and the flint to the paper towel where the other pieces lay. "What were you wondering?"

She takes a deep breath before blurting out, "Are you going out with Axel Flynn?"

I drop everything, making the splinters jump and the tweezers clatter. "E-Excuse me?" I sputter.

"You're Imani, right?" She leans forward slightly. "Imani Brisce?"

"Y-Yes…" I nod cautiously. "Why?"

"It's just…my friends and I always see you sitting with him," she stammers, her gaze dropping to the floor embarrassedly. "There was even this one time we saw you sitting…_on_ him…"

_"Me and Imani are like _this_."_

I groan, covering my face to hide the heat flaring up. "You saw that?"

Her feet shuffle as she nods. "So…does that mean you two _are_ going out?"

"N…No, it doesn't." I pick up the tweezers again and peer closer at her fingers to adjust to the discomfort of feeling my heart sink.

"Really?" She doesn't sound convinced. "Seifer told us Axel was talking about you two making out during that class."

Well, there go my hopes of my blush dying down. "Axel wasn't being serious," I mutter, picking up my tweezing pace to kick her out of the office before she asks more embarrassing questions.

"But he seemed to really like having you sit on his lap—"

"You must have been seeing things."

"He wouldn't let you get off him until class started—"

"Done!" I declare, pulling back and ushering her to the door. "Wash your hands really well in the bathroom outside and you're free to go."

"Can't I just wash them in that sink?" She points to the one next to my desk confusedly.

With a little unnecessary force I grab her arm and lead her to the exit. "That soap isn't alcohol-based. I wouldn't use it."

"O-Oh…" The girl's nose wrinkles with uncertainty but she still walks out the door.

"Bye!" I wave with a plastered grin on my face. "Your fingers will be all good in no time!"

To be safe, I wait twelve seconds before dragging my feet back to my swivel chair and collapsing tiredly onto it, resting my head in my hands. Why does everything have to revolve around Axel these days? Isn't it enough that I like him even though he's a womanizing egotistic self-centered…ah…ah…

"ACHOO!"

* * *

Kairi sets down the tin trash can next to my bed with a loud clang. "I _told_ you it's unhealthy to keep everything to yourself."

A bout of sneezes bursts from me before I can retort nasally, "This is completely unrelated."

"Really?" She quirks an eyebrow. "So you got sick out of pure coincidence?"

"How else would I have gotten sick, Kairi?" I toss another crumpled tissue into the trash can.

"You're a pre-med student!" she cries. "You're not supposed to get sick!"

Exhaustedly I throw my head into my pillow. "I work at the nurse's office. Sick people come in all the time."

"But this is the first time you've caught a cold in all the months since you first started working there," she argues.

"It's flu season," I deadpan.

"All the more reason why you shouldn't have gotten sick!" She perches herself on Namine's bed across the room. "You know how to keep yourself healthy and immune to viruses and stuff."

"Can you blame me if I've been a little preoccupied with my _two_ part-time jobs _and_ school?"

"And Axel."

"Don't put words into my mouth."

…is what I would've said if I hadn't started sneezing again.

"You should probably take tomorrow off," Kairi suggests, her smug grin giving way to a worried frown. "You don't look like you'll be getting better anytime soon."

"I can't," I shake my head wearily. "Belle already requested tomorrow off so she could spend time with her family visiting from out of town."

"Can't someone fill in for you?"

"It's just me, Tifa, Olette, and Selphie…and Alice, but she's not back from her trip yet."

Suddenly the lock on the door clicks and in walks Namine. "Hey everyone."

"Hey!" Kairi leaps off the bed and pounces on her cousin. "So-o-o-o? How did it go?"

"It went well…" She blushes, barely able to contain her giddy smile.

"What'd you guys do?" I roll over on the bed to better see them.

Kairi tugs her to take a seat on the bed while Namine mumbles, "We ate at Lionheart then walked around in the park…Imani, are you alright? You look terrible."

"She's _sick!_" Kairi declares like a mother chiding her daughter with an "I told you so". "She bottled everything up for too long and now she's sneezing like there's no tomorrow."

"I didn't get sick because of that!" I protest…then proceed to cough painfully into my pillow.

Namine gets up and strides over to place her cool hand on my forehead. "You should ask Tifa for the day off tomorrow."

"That's what _I_ said."

"I'll be fine," I reassure both of them. "I'll be fine."

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **I had to look up a song that blatantly talked about loving someone despite the annoying things that person does. I couldn't quite find anything so I had to decide between the BoyZone song and a song by Dynamite Hack. After listening to both on YouTube, I decided Demyx would be more likely to sing the BoyZone song. :)

Please tell me I'm not the only one who can imagine Demyx singing "Use Somebody". Heh, if Imani went for guys who could sing a song like that really well, I think she'd be hooked on Demyx instead of Axel.

Also, about Imani's last name, it's actually the word "scribe" mixed up to spell "Brisce" (as a plugin for Imani's original story, _The Kismet Scribe_...which I strongly-but-not-forcefully encourage you to read). I tried using the words "kismet" ("Tsimek") and "destiny" ("Dystine")but the mixups weren't that great.

One more thing: does Alice (from _Alice in Wonderland_) seem like the type of person to work at a cafe Tifa runs? Any suggestions on other Disney characters (male or female) who might work at such a place? I couldn't think of any other plausible coworker.

Thank you for reading and waiting so patiently for this chapter! I'll get right to working on the next as soon as I post this! Please leave a review!


	13. When I Actually Get Sick

**Author's Comments: **This is turning into a weekly update thing. Is that okay? Maybe then I'll become more consistent and you won't have to keep checking every day for an update.

I really did start writing this as soon as I posted the last chapter. I just couldn't think of anything to write...so I got **desperate**. Just a warning.

Also, I'm thinking of changing the title and the summary for this story. _Calloused Fingertips_ doesn't feel like a suitable title. Suggestions are welcome!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts...or any non-Kingdom Hearts characters that happen to pop up in the story. I own Imani and Aden.

* * *

I slip the thermometer from my mouth and reluctantly read off, "A hundred and three."

"You're _not_ going to work today," Namine declares, grabbing my phone and searching for Tifa's number. "No protesting."

My lips purse together stubbornly before a cough explodes from my chest.

"If it'll make you feel any better, I'll ask Luxord to rent out the entire place and hold a spontaneous Melodious Nocturne party just so the café doesn't get slammed."

"Demyx won't agree to that if he knows I'm too sick to work."

"Well, at least you're finally admitting that," she smiles approvingly, placing the phone next to her ear. "If you feel up to it, you should email your professors about today's assignments."

"Yes, _mom._"

"Hello Tifa. This is Namine. Yeah, hi…"

As she explains that I'll be stuck in my dorm all day hacking my lungs and blowing my brains out, I snuggle further beneath the covers, letting the dizziness of my fever consume my mind.

* * *

"Uh huh."

I slowly slip back into consciousness, the dorm materializing around me in sound behind my eyelids. My lungs feel clogged with who knows what and my head hurts.

"Did you do an EKG?"

Huh. That doesn't sound like Namine or Kairi.

"…I see. Well…yeah, yeah. Right."

Prying one eye open carefully, I search the dorm for the mysterious voice's owner.

"Okay, then. Try this…"

The other eye opens completely when I catch sight of Axel lounging in my swivel chair, a cell phone to one ear and his legs crossed. The rectangular glasses give him a professional, trustworthy (hah) medical doctor air about him.

How did he get into my dorm?

"Yeah. Try that and get back to me…" His green eyes flit to me behind his specs and light up when he sees I'm awake. "You know what? Scratch that. Doctor Fuu is on team, right? Report to her."

Maybe the question should be "When did Namine give Axel the key?"

"I actually have something I need to do now," he explains, never once glancing away from me. "The only person I'll answer calls from is Doctor Aerith, got it memorized?"

Well, actually, I don't even know what he's doing in my dorm period.

He tilts his head away and flips the phone shut. "Good morning, sleeping beauty," he grins.

"What are you—" A fit of coughs cuts me off.

He wheels himself closer, taking the thermometer resting on my bedside table. "You don't sound like you have a lot of mucus in your lungs. That's good."

When the itch in my throat finally disappears, I glare up at him. "I know that."

Amused, Axel quirks an eyebrow. "Open up."

I obey his order, a little grateful he's choosing not to place his nice warm hand on my forehead as he sticks the thermometer under my tongue gently.

"Did any of your coworkers get sick within the past week?" he asks, leaning his elbows on his knees. "Or maybe your classmates?"

I shake my head.

"Then you must have gotten this from the nurse's office," he mumbles almost to himself. "Did you forget to wash your hands?"

"I don't know," I groan, pulling out the thermometer and checking the measurement. "A hundred and one."

He takes back the thermometer, wrapping it in tissue until he can go to the bathroom and rinse it. "Well, since it takes a week for a cold to set in, this must have started around the time you came to have dinner at my apartment."

Uh-oh. I think I know where this is going.

"Emotional stress tends to turn into physical ailments," he goes on. "One way or another, I think your sickness stems back—"

"You and Kairi hang out too much," I interrupt with a rasp in my voice. "For the last time, it's purely coincidental that I got sick right after I started feeling stressed."

"So you admit it?" He leans forward. "You admit you were sick when you came to me?"

My eyes widen again and I bury myself further beneath the covers. I can't think straight and deny things I know are true. Crap.

"Feel like having the doctor do an examination now?" Axel leans away and props his head on his hand, his elbow resting on the table.

"Is that why you're here? To corner me into admitting things I wouldn't if I were healthy?" I retaliate to avoid answering the question.

"Yes and no." He points to a stack of envelopes and papers on my desk. "I came to bring that for you."

"And you came here how long ago?"

"Namine let me in at eleven-thirtyish."

My heart jumps as I glance at the blaring red numbers on my clock. _He's been here for an hour?!_

As he wheels back to the desk, I hesitantly croak, "Why'd you stay?"

"To take care of you," he answers nonchalantly, opening a paper bag and pulling out small styrofoam containers. "Friends take care of each other when they're sick."

Demyx and I always went around the school to pick up assignments from the teachers whenever one of us was sick. (Aden was always too busy with sports to do that for me, which I didn't mind.) We always dropped them off at each other's house, visiting for five minutes at the most before bidding each other to get well soon and then leaving. We always called each other's houses the next morning to ask if we needed to pick up assignments again that day.

Neither Demyx nor I _ever_ skipped school to go to each other's house and feed each other chicken noodle soup. We just didn't expect that of each other.

"Unless you wanna spill this all over your bed, sit _up_ and drink it."

I've come to really hate the word "friend." I don't know what it means anymore.

"Unless you want me to feed it to you _mouth-to-mouth_—"

"Give me the stupid bowl."

He snickers, waiting until I sit up entirely to hand me the steaming hot bowl. I watch him take a few sips, before blurting, "Do you do this for all your friends?"

"Do what?"

"Spend an hour at their house and bring chicken noodle soup."

A smirk forms around the spoon. "Why? Do you feel special?"

"I'm just _asking_." At least I can blame my cold for making my face appear flushed. No one—especially not him—would be the wiser.

"Well, no, I don't."

Wow. That was surprisingly blunt. "Really?"

He shakes his head, dipping the spoon into the soup. "I've never done this for any of my friends."

"Then…" I stare into my soup, watching the carrots and noodles bob and float in the liquid. "Why're you doing this for me?"

Axel pauses, letting the spoon stick out of his mouth. "…Because I want to? Do I have to have a reason?"

"N-No," I quickly reply. "Just wondering."

_You don't have anything better to do and you like playing with my feelings, you mean. _My chest begins to hurt with a dull ache. _When and _why_ did I start bringing my hopes up?_

"Finish eating then go back to sleep." He sighs quietly.

My ears perk. Did he just sound…

"What?" One fine eyebrow angles upward. "Something on my face?"

Without answering I dart my eyes away and drink more soup. I must be hearing things…I could've sworn he sounded…

Is "sad" the right word?

* * *

Tifa offers a warm smile as I walk into the back kitchen. "Hey! You feel any better?"

"No," I croak. "My fever's gone, though, so I thought I'd come in."

She flips through some paperwork. "Um…good?" Her nose wrinkles in confusion. "You could've taken today off, too, you know. I don't want you getting worse…or getting everyone else sick."

"It's only a cough," I insist, reaching into my bag and pulling out my apron. "I'll keep my gloves on all the time. I'll wash my hands every ten minutes. I'll bend down and cough to the ground. I'll—"

"You're so weird, Imani." Tifa laughs. "If you're that desperate to get back to work, then fine. I could use the extra pair of hands today."

"You always can," I wink, tugging my apron strings tight and signing in before heading out to the service area.

And slamming into Selphie on my way.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" she sputters.

"Are you two okay?" Tifa rushes over and helps us each get back up.

She nods, her outward curls bobbing madly. "I'm fine, I'm fine, but I'm not sure about…" Selphie twists her face uncertainly at me. "What are you doing here? I thought you were sick."

Holding back a snort at her bluntness, I reply, "I came to help you and Olette in the front."

"Oh. Okay…" Her eyes widen and she rakes her fingers through her hair. "Oh no! Not okay! Olette's still out there with that creep!"

"What creep?" Tifa growls, the air growing a little colder and thick with tension.

"There's this lanky redheaded guy who's been spewing pick-up lines for the past ten minutes," Selphie groans. "No matter how much we try to hint that we're not interested, he keeps bugging us!"

My ears perk at the mention of a lanky redheaded man. The strings holding my heart in place snap in half at the mention of the man spilling pick-up lines. "Does he have tattoos on his face?"

Both my boss and my coworker turn their attentions to me, slightly startled at the question. "Y-Yeah, there's one under each eye," Selphie says.

"And what color are his eyes?" I ask before I can catch myself, my heart already painfully digging a tunnel to my stomach.

She blinks, shrinking back just a little at my intense stare (understandably). "A-Are you okay, Imani?"

"What color?" I demand.

_Say brown. Or black. Or _yellow_. Any color but his._

She gulps. "G-Green."

Without a second thought I storm out the door. "That arrogant—"

"Imani?" they both call, following me. "Do you know who he is?"

_I knew it,_ I chant in my head. _I knew it. I knew it. I _knew_ it._

I turn the corner, my lips pulling back as I snarl furiously at the asshole. "Ax—"

The whole room freezes as I take in the "creep." His red hair is _long_ and tied back. His tattoos aren't shaped like black teardrops but like red streaks. He's tall and lanky, but not _angular_.

I have to blink a few times to make sure I'm seeing correctly, but eventually a sigh of relief slips through my teeth. He's not Axel.

"You doin' a double-take at me?" He smirks. "Yeah, I know. I'm pretty hot, yo."

As quickly as it dissipated, my ire boils back up. "N-No, you've got it wrong. I just…thought you were someone else."

The man snickers. "Ya did, didja? I find that hard to believe. Not many guys measure up to my level of attractive awesomeness, yo."

Despite the little differences, he's definitely as cocky as Axel.

"No, I'm sure _one_ does." Selphie, now as comfortable and perky as ever since she's no longer the center of the red-haired man's attention, nudges me in the side conspiratorially. "Right, Imani?"

I clench my fist to suppress my cringe. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Even if it'll shoot down the creep's pride and possibly get him to leave us all alone, I will _not_ admit to thinking another guy—another _redhead_, no less—is more attractive.

"Yes you do!" Selphie squeals. I can see the dread building up in Tifa's and Olette's eyes.

"Oh really?" Eyes glinting, the man leans forward and rests an arm on the counter. "Who?"

_Why_ can't we be slammed now? _Why_ can't a whole slew of customers rush in through those doors and overload us with orders so this creep who reminds me too much of Axel will go away? _Why?_

"No one you would know," I answer shortly as Tifa covers Selphie's mouth with a hand and Olette shakes her head in agreement.

He wags a finger as if to warn me of my haste in responding so subjectively. "I'm pretty knowledgeable about the folks in Hollow Bastion. Try me."

I send him my meanest glare. "I said _no_."

"Do you know someone named Axel Flynn?"

Crap. Selphie was able to tug Tifa's hand away.

The man's eyes light up. "Axel?"

Heat surges to my face and reluctantly I turn away. "You know him?" I mumble.

"Know him?" He throws back his head and howls in laughter, clutching his sides. "Oh jeez! Know _Axel?_"

"Well do you or don't you?" I snap. His laughter is _nothing_ like Axel's.

Tears of mirth form at the corners of his eyes. "Of course I know him. He's my brother."

My heart, which had scurried back up to its original place once I realized Axel wasn't the one harassing Olette and Selphie, stops completely. "Y-Your _brother?!_"

"Yo," his laughter simmers down to chuckles and snorts, "you think _Axel's_ hotter than me?"

"Oh she does!" Selphie chimes in. "She's in love with him!"

Olette slaps a palm to her face. Tifa slaps a palm to Selphie's mouth. I clench my fists because I feel like slapping Selphie.

"You're in love with my brother?" he reiterates slowly, the syllables rolling off his tongue like the 'r's off Axel's. "Interesting."

I wouldn't mind slapping the devilish smirk off his face…or whatever made me believe today wouldn't be a bad day to get out of bed and go to work.

* * *

**EDIT: **I just came up with two possible new names for this story: **_Learning to Fall (The Hard Way)_** and **_Memoirs of the Emotionally Stupid_**. Both, I understand, may sound really lame. That's why you're welcome to suggest other possible titles!

**Author's Afterthought: **See? See? I _told_ you I was really desperate. I pulled out the somewhat cliche "Reno equals Axel's brother" card. I'm very sorry if this makes you angry and I hope you'll continue to read this. I just really needed ideas.

I know next to nothing about Reno, so I'm not sure how well I wrote his character. What do you think?

I'm happy to announce that I have an idea for the next chapter! Hopefully this means you can expect an update sooner. I'll do my best!

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review! Please also leave suggestions for a new, more suitable title for this story!


	14. When He Knows Something He Shouldn't

**Author's Comments: **Hoo, I was on a roll last night! I finished two chapters and I started on a third! I predict this series will wrap in a couple chapters, though. I'm a little sad! This was pretty fun to write. (Really _hard_, but fun.)

As for a new title, **Zemyx-AkuRoku** has kindly suggested the title **_Floating on Fire_.** What do you think? I like it! I just might use that title.

Hope you enjoy reading!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Reno. I do own Imani.

* * *

I totally understand why Kairi and Selphie get along so well as dorm mates.

_"You don't want anyone to know, right?" A thin red eyebrow arches upward._

It's just too hard for either of them to stop talking.

_"Especially not _him._"_

At least Kairi has the sense to keep the really important must-not-tell stuff under wraps.

_"It'll be like killing two birds with one stone, yo. Everybody wins."_

"Uh, Imani?"

I jump from my thoughts. "Y-Yeah?"

Blue eyes flick away momentarily as Roxas tries to come up with something to say. "…Did I do something to make you angry? If I did, I'm sorry."

Instantly I hide my glare, shaking my head at him. "Oh no, you didn't do anything. I'm just waiting for Luxord to take his break."

He looks over his shoulder to inspect the activity of the salon. "I think after he's done with that guy, he's free for a half hour."

I nod. Half an hour should be enough time.

"What did you want to talk to him about?" Roxas asks. "Maybe I could help."

A smile creeps onto my face. Yes, Namine, I _totally_ approve.

"Well…" I lean on the cool counter, whispering secretively, "Do you make bets with people often?"

Those eyes widen a little. "N-No, not really. Why?"

"Good for you." I nod in approval. "You shouldn't bet, not even a little. Unless you're like Luxord and you _always_ win."

"Do _you_ bet?"

"I've only bet twice." My smile contorts into a sour grimace. "The first bet I lost and it screwed over my life to this day."

"Really?" He laughs. "What happened?"

"I was forced into a girls' night by your girlfriend and her cousins. During that girls' night, I met _Axel_." I roll my eyes. "'Nuff said."

"Ooh. Brutal." He nods understandingly but still laughs. "And the second bet?"

I give a wry grin. "That's why I'm here to see Luxord."

* * *

Namine's cousin strides in the moment I open the door. "Imani! What's wrong?"

I exchange a confused look with Namine as I shut the door quietly. "Nothing's wrong. Why do you ask?"

"The winds of change are about to blow up a storm soon," Kairi scans the little white card in her hand, "and if you don't choose to act against them, you'll get caught in a hurricane with virtually no escape!"

The words sink in and I groan. "You went to Esmeralda again?"

"I go several times a month, Imani. You know that."

"You didn't have to ask about me."

"I always do! I always ask about you and Nam." She plops down on the bed next to Namine and wraps an arm around her shoulders. "Namine here has good things in store for her and Roxas."

"Sora really puts up with this?" I ask incredulously.

She shrugs. "You know how he is. He's not superstitious but he believes in destiny."

"He's never tried to convince you that fortune-telling is purely psychological?"

"It's _not!_ You met someone special that night three weeks ago, right?"

"That was coincidence."

"So you think Namine meeting Roxas that same night was coincidental, too?"

"I think it was."

Kairi and I turn to Namine. "Thank you," I tell her.

"Namine!" Kairi cries, slapping a hand to her heart. "How could you!"

"Roxas could've been working another day," she shrugs. "If Zexion was the one settling the costs, would that mean my soulmate is Zexion?"

Kairi runs the statement through her head then finally laughs in relief. "Hun, I think you're a little confused."

Namine's brow creases. "Huh?"

"One, the fact that Roxas was working that day and doing our costs—when he very well could've been off that day—is _not_ coincidental. It's destiny."

"Oh jeez," I moan, collapsing on my bed.

"Two, just because Zexion could've been the clerk the entire day, you could've run into Roxas at the club or on the way to the car or—"

"_Stop_, Kairi."

"You don't have to limit yourself to _salon clerks_ as possible soulmates."

"…Oh! I see what you're saying." Namine smiles. "You're right, then. It wasn't coincidence."

"No!" I leap off the bed and pull the cousins apart. "Don't drag her to the dark side!"

"Listen to the fates!" Kairi tugs Namine away and slaps the white card into my palm. "Resist the winds of change!"

* * *

Luxord sets down two glasses of water, a circular plastic container of Namine's homemade chex mix, and a deck of cards.

"What's that for?" I point to the snack bag.

"These," he unscrews the cap from the container and shakes a whole pile of the baked, sweetened mix onto the bare dining table, "are our betting chips."

I stare at the mess he made, idly picking up a honeycomb cereal piece and popping it into my mouth. "Don't you have _real_ chips somewhere?"

"I'm hungry," he states. As if to prove his point, he picks out all the pretzels and munches on them as he divvies up the chex. "The small dark ones will be worth one-hundred apiece, the bigger lighter ones five-hundred apiece, and the honeycombs a thousand apiece. We'll each start with a total of five-thousand."

"Fine." My hand goes back and forth between the pile of mix we're not playing with and my mouth.

"When is this bet scheduled?"

Running my other hand through my hair, I grab my glass and take a deep swig. "Tomorrow."

He sighs exasperatedly, sitting down across the table from me, crunching between his words. "You're not going to be able to master these tricks by tomorrow."

"I'm not too concerned with that." I slam the glass down after gulping nearly all the water. "I just want to remember how to do them."

"Memorizing the tricks and successfully performing the tricks are two completely different aspects." He takes hold of the deck and shuffles it swiftly, dealing five cards to each of us and setting the remainder aside. "Poker is a complicated game."

"Which is why I came to _you_," I conclude, swiping my cards closer. "My opponent isn't a serious poker player, but it'd be good to have some sort of advantage over him."

Luxord quirks an eyebrow and takes a sip of his water. "I'm curious. Who is your opponent and what is this bet?"

"You haven't met him and the bet's nothing important," I blurt in one breath. I do _not_ want his cousins hearing about this.

"Oh?" Both eyebrows rise. "Then I suppose you don't need to learn my tricks."

"No! You have to teach me!" My right knee starts to bounce in anticipation. "I can't tell you why, but this is really serious. You just have to trust me on this."

After a minute of studying me with a pitiful look that clearly shouts "What did you do now?" Luxord picks up his cards and sighs again. "I should've gotten myself a beer instead," he mutters under his breath.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demand.

He shakes his head. "Look at your hand."

I obey. The sooner I can learn these things, the sooner I can master them and the sooner this anxiety coiling up in my stomach will go away.

"You may have heard that poker is a game of luck," he begins. "You heard wrong. Poker is a game of manipulation."

"Manipulation?" I repeat. "Of what?"

"Of the mind. This includes bluffing, taunting, upping the ante while having knowledge of your crappy hand, and eliminating all hints of nervousness and confidence until you're perceived to have the emotional spectrum of a rock."

"A-Ah."

"You seem to need the most work on the last aspect," he notes in a bored tone. "Stop bouncing your knee. I can feel it thought the table."

* * *

His lips curl back in a feral grin as he lays his cards down. "Royal Flush."

The room seems to crash around me as he scoops the chips...all _my_ chips...to his side of the table. I can only stare as he laughs triumphantly, leaning closer to my face and stealing my lips.

_...I lost_.

* * *

"What's wrong with you?"

His warm breath splays across the side of my face and seems to sink into my skin. I glance at Axel then return my attentions to Professor Aerith at the front of the room. "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with _you?_"

He reels back an inch. "Whaddya mean by that?"

"You've barely made fun of me all day. You haven't uttered a single perverted comment yet." My fingers idly flip to the page the professor asked. "You just seem distracted."

"Aww," he coos with a smirk. "Are you worried about me?"

I blush and stutter, "W-Well you said so yourself: friends worry about each other."

Axel gives a breathless laugh, shaking his head. "Touché."

A spark of curiosity ignites in my mind as I watch him. If I lean a little closer and angle my head so I can see him better, maybe I can better identify whatever weird look's in his eyes.

"If you _must_ know," he mutters, "I woke up today and my jaw hurt."

I blink, my fingers halting. "Your jaw hurt."

"A lot. Even more since seeing you."

"…I'm sorry?"

"You should be."

"I-I should be?!" I sputter. "I didn't do anything to you!"

"Not _yet._" He gives a long-suffering sigh and explains, "Something crappy has always happened to me whenever I wake up with my jaw hurting and the pain always gets worse when I see the person who's going to be linked to the crap I get."

I nod slowly, trying to comprehend what he's saying. "So you think I'm going to give you crap today?"

"You always give me crap, but whatever you give me today's going to top _everything_."

While his accusation is true, I arch an eyebrow at the drama lacing his words. "Hm. You don't strike me as the type of person to be superstitious."

A hand reaches up to stroke the edge of his jaw near his ear. "I'm not. This is different."

"Really?" I ask skeptically, well aware that I'm neglecting the professor's in-class assignment. "What bad things have happened?"

Half-lidded eyes leer at me. "An old lady ran her car into mine and the one next to mine in a parking lot_._"

"…Oh."

"Demyx slammed his textbooks on the table so hard my bowl of soup tipped over and spilled onto my lap."

"...O-Oh_._"

"My brother used my bed to sleep with a chick he met five minutes earlier."

I flinch. His brother. "_Oh._"

"Should I keep going?" he drawls.

"No," I hurriedly reply. "I get it."

Axel sighs, rubbing his face. "I'm _really_ glad you don't know my brother. You don't wanna get involved with him."

My throat goes tight as I struggle to swallow, my heart pounding. Breathing suddenly became a little harder to do.

"So what's wrong with you?" he repeats, arching an eyebrow of his own. "You're linked to the crap I'll be getting so you might as well spill whatever it is that's bothering you."

"Class is dismissed," Professor Aerith announces and I nearly jump in my seat.

His eyebrows shoot up. "Whoa. You think _I'm_ distracted?"

A nervous laugh crawls past my lips as I slam my book shut and begin gathering my things. "It's nothing."

"Don't lie." His hand wraps around my wrist, burning my skin and sending pleasant shivers up my spine. "It's _something_."

My remaining hand stills. I hesitantly peek at him out of the corner of my eye. "You really want to know?"

"Just tell me," he commands, another strange—different—shadow lingering in his gaze.

I bite my lip as I weigh my choices. I don't want to tell him. He'll find out sooner or later, though, and it'd be better if I told him first before—

"Yo Imani!"

At the door stands Reno Flynn, his hands tucked in his pants pockets and his goggles glinting harshly in the light.

Axel's grip tightens. "Shit."

Striding to our seats, he salutes with two fingers and a smirk. "Heya, bro. Long time no see."

_You met him?_ Axel's eyes scream as he whips his head back to me. _You met him?! _

Reno stops in between me and Axel, prying the hand off my wrist. "Ready to go, babe?"

"_Babe?_" His jaw drops. "What the hell?!"

"Oh? Imani didn't tell you?" His eyes gleam as he winks at me before grinning over his shoulder. "We're going out, yo."

"What?!" he growls, immediately flicking his gaze to me.

"You'd better believe it," Reno laughs.

Shooting his brother a glare, he pushes Reno to the side to see me better. "Imani," Axel pleads, "Tell me he's lying!"

_...Pleading? He's pleading? Why is he pleading? This isn't supposed to bother him!_

My throat goes dry as I turn away. "He's not."

The silence that follows my words weighs heavily in the air and on my conscience. Reno squeezes between the desks to get behind me and promptly wraps his arms around my shoulders, embracing me just like Axel did that first night I met him.

"She's _my_ girl," Reno purrs, his lips meeting my cheek for a good measure. "Commit it to memory, yo."

* * *

**Author's Afterthought:** How many of you saw that coming? Thanks, by the way, for the support of the "Reno and Axel are brothers" thing.

So...if you haven't left a review yet, please do! Tell me what you think about the three possible new titles: **_Learning to Fall (The Hard Way), Memoirs of the Emotionally Stupid,_** and**_ Floating on Fire._** Thanks for reading! I'll upload the next chapter soon!


	15. When I Drown in Red

**Author's Comments: **Thank you for the reviews and the title preferences! I'm going to think about it a little longer before I make any changes.

Everyone who reviewed wanted me to elaborate on _why_ Reno and Imani are together, and I plan to clear things up in this chapter. I was thinking about waiting a little longer to post it, but after reading the reviews, I decided I couldn't wait. It's not fair to make you readers wait when I have the chapter just sitting in my USB drive.

Okay, please enjoy reading!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Reno. I own Imani and Aden.

* * *

Reno slurps his drink. "I thought that went pretty well, don't you?"

"The kiss was too much," I reply curtly, stuffing a bite of food into my mouth before I snap at him more. _Both kisses were._

He snorts. "If you ask me, the kiss wasn't enough, yo."

"Wasn't enough?" I exhale sharply. "Did you see his _face?_ H-He was…"

"He was _pissed_," he cackles, slamming down his drink on the sticky table. "It's so fun to make him mad."

A silent sigh escapes me. He didn't say a word when we left him in the classroom. Would he really be mad about Reno and I—

"Yo."

Fingertips—not nearly as calloused or as warm as his—grasp my chin and bring me to meet Reno's eyes. "Stop worryin' over him."

I glare at him coldly, backing away from his touch. "Friends worry about each other."

He shrugs, swaying his head back and forth reluctantly. "Sure, but friends don't take first priority over lovers, yo."

"We're not lovers," I correct him. "We're just going out because of a dumb card game."

"A card game _I_ won," he smirks, "but fine. We're just going out…for now."

I gulp nervously. I hope he _never_ thinks about slipping alcohol into my drink.

* * *

"Imani, _please_ eat something," Kairi begs behind me. "You don't look so well."

My fingers type rapidly, the light of the computer casting an eerie glow on my face. "I'll eat later."

A pregnant pause fills the room. Without looking I know the two cousins are sharing a worried look. "Selphie says she's really sorry," Kairi says uncertainly. "Really, really sorry."

"She also said she realizes it might take you a while to ever consider forgiving her," Namine adds.

_She's right about that_, I think bitterly.

"…Did something happen at work?" my roommate asks.

I shake my head distractedly and lie through my teeth, "No."

Neither seems convinced what with the suspicion humming in the air. "Imani," Kairi rests a hand on my arm. "Remember the four-day rule?"

_"You're _banned_ from not telling either Namine or me something that's really bothering you."_

"Do I have to follow that rule?" I ask monotonously.

"W-Well…no…" She sighs. "I just don't want you to bottle everything up. You'll crumble from the inside out that way."

I finally tear my eyes away from the screen to study her concerned gaze.

* * *

"No. Freaking. _Way_."

"Close your mouth, Demyx." I stick out my tongue in disgust. "I can see your food."

He swallows promptly…a little too promptly, coughing madly and thumping his chest. "Let me get this straight," he manages to get out between coughs as he crumples up the paper his burger was wrapped in, "you're in love with Axel but as of yesterday you're going out with his _brother?!_"

I groan, massaging my temples. "Don't make me say it again. Please."

The bout of coughs slowly goes away and Demyx's eyes flick from side to side. "I-I thought…" he trails off, stopping abruptly at the curb. "I didn't think he was _serious_ when he said…"

_He?_ I furrow my brow. _Who's he talking about?_

Suddenly his bowed head shoots up. "How the hell did this happen?! _Why_ is this happening?!" he demands, throwing the paper ball into a nearby trashcan with so much force his hair sways violently on his head. "You're making things so complicated!"

"It's not my fault!" I protest. "My coworker wouldn't shut up! She told him that I like—"

"Love! Love!" His fist pounds the crosswalk button repeatedly. "You _love_ him! Stop cheapening your feelings!"

I reel back, sirens going off in my head. He's only ever cut me off when he's really annoyed. "S-Stop pressuring me!"

"But it's true!"

"I _know_ it's true!"

The signal changes to the white walking man. I storm into the street, Demyx hot on my trail and shouting, "Then why are you going out with Reno?!"

I huff, stomping aimlessly down the sidewalk once I get across. "My coworker told him I like—"

"For the last time, you _love_ him!"

"Stop interrupting me!"

"Then stop switching the words, dammit! It's pissing me off!"

"Well it's pissing _me_ off that no one seems to realize that _loving_—did you hear that, Demyx? LOVING!—Axel is the biggest mistake I've made in my entire life!"

A hand snatches my shoulder and spins me around. Demyx's eyes blaze with indignation. "Imani, what the hell are you saying?!"

I scoff nastily. "Yeah, what _am_ I saying?! _Meeting_ Axel was the biggest mistake of my life! Making a bet with Kairi and Namine was the biggest mistake of my life! If I'd never agreed to that stupid bet, I wouldn't have met him and I wouldn't have fallen for him and I wouldn't have to put up with my friends' big mouths and the way they have to stick their noses into my business when I can hardly get over the shame of feeling so _vulnerable!!_"

His grip loosens slightly. The image of his shell-shocked face blurs dangerously as I huff to catch my breath.

"I'll say it," I hiss brokenly. "I'll _say_ it, okay? I _love _him. I love Axel and it's killing me. My heart beats so hard when I'm around him that I start wondering if I'll end up in the hospital for heart failure, yet at the same time I feel so comfortable being with him that I sometimes wonder if I'm in a coma. When he gets really close to me, it gets so difficult for me to breathe that I wonder if I'll naturally suffocate myself. I think about him so much that I wonder if I'm obsessed. Every touch he's given me has been so warm that I wonder if I could get a fever just from feeling his skin on mine."

"Imani…" Sad, apologetic tones lace his now much quieter voice.

I breathe out shakily. "What kills me the most is the fact that he wouldn't care. I'm not worthy of his attention—he's only giving it to me because he's bored. I can't decide whether hearing him laugh or seeing him shrug me off would break my heart more if he ever found out."

He opens his mouth as if to say something, but seems to think better of it, changing his murmur to a short "Reno found out."

I nod, a warm tear finally spilling onto my cheek. "I lost a card game to him. According to the bet we made, I have to go out with him so he won't say anything."

A thoughtful silence follows. Soon, though, he pulls me into a tight hug with a sigh.

"You're not allowed to tell Axel any of this," I mumble into his shirt.

"…I know."

* * *

Another yawn stretches my mouth. I could hardly sleep last night, but thankfully it hasn't been slowing down my work pace. Only two patients have come in so far—one with a migraine and one with a mild cold.

I remembered to wash my hands.

Three rapt knocks come from the door. Spinning my chair around, I look to my next patient leaning against the doorframe and my heart jumps. "Axel."

He waves, a smirk tugging at his lips. Without asking he enters the room and takes a seat on the patient bed. The room feels stuffy with awkward silence as the two of us sit quietly, glancing anywhere but at each other.

"So…you and my brother, huh?"

_Well. He got right to it, didn't he?_

"Yeah." I nod, fiddling with the hem of my white coat. "Me and Reno."

He nods slowly, his fingers intertwined as he leans his forearms on his knees. "When did you…?"

"Last week," I lie. "I bumped into him at a store one day and we just…hit it off…"

A hand rubs the back of his head. "I see."

"I didn't know he was your brother until the other day," I go on. "To be honest, I thought he was you when I first saw him."

"We used to get that a lot as kids," he manages a light chuckle.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Oh…"

Minutes pass. I almost wish a patient—anyone, even the giant key-wielding guy—would come in and break the silence.

"…What made you agree to go out with him?"

I slip my tongue between my teeth to buy time. "…He knew all the right things to say," I half-lie.

_Like "Go out with me or I'll tell Axel."_

"I just…couldn't refuse…"

He looks up to me, his eyes sharp and searching. "You like him?"

I don't like those low pitches in his voice. They don't sound right. He's supposed to sound confident and playful, not…whatever this is…

"Sure I like him," I blurt, glancing away for a moment. "We're going out, aren't we?"

Axel looks away, rubbing the back of his head again. "Right."

There it is. That look I can't place my finger on. The one I couldn't quite interpret yesterday.

Taking a deep breath, I spit out my question before my courage seeps away. "Does it bother you that we're going out?"

As if by puppet strings, a corner of his mouth quirks in a lopsided grin. "I'm just confused," he laughs a little too harshly. "I can't think of anyone who'd want to date my _brother_."

My forehead creases. His actions seem forced. "Is that a 'no'?"

He stops laughing, his green eyes boring into mine. "If you're happy with him, then no." His lips curve into a soft smile. "It doesn't bother me."

_What if I'm not happy with him?_

The last of my courage vanishes. I don't know whether to say "Good" or "Fine" or "I love you." I just nod.

* * *

_In you and I, there's a new land…_

My left hand reaches blindly for the phone while my right hand continues to type. I flip the phone open, keeping my eyes glued to the screen.

_Angels in flight—_

I cradle the phone between my head and my shoulder. "Hello?"

"How many times to I have to tell you to _call_ me when you're troubled? I wouldn't be surprised if Dem's starting to get pissed off at you secretly."

A halfhearted laugh bubbles from my chest. "I oughta shoot the messenger."

"Don't. He's the only one who ever keeps me up to date with you anymore since you're obviously too busy to give me a call. I can hear your typing."

"I'm writing my analysis for my Pathopsychology class," I tell him. "And you know you could always give _me_ a call. Or you can text."

"I haven't figured out how to text yet. I just got this phone."

"How long ago?"

He hesitates then reluctantly mutters, "Three months."

"Well aren't you the busybody?" A smile creeps onto my face. "I guess that means you're doing well at Oathkeeper, Inc."

"If you call being overloaded with work twenty-four hours a day, then yeah, I guess so."

"Aden Brisce, Business Extraordinaire," I let the title roll around in my tongue. "I like the sound of that."

Aden chuckles a little, but all too soon his tone goes serious. "Nurse Imani Brisce, back away from the computer and start talking."

My teeth nibble on my bottom lip. "But we're already talking," I say offhandedly.

"You know what I mean. Stop typing."

Reluctantly I halt my fingers, leaning back with a sigh. "What did Demyx tell you?"

"You're in love with his old roommate but yesterday you started going out with the roommate's brother because the brother found out you liked the roommate and you don't want the brother to tell the roommate about your feelings."

I clear my throat embarrassedly. "That's pretty much it."

"Imani, I know you're smarter than this."

"It's not my fault!" I groan. "My coworker—"

"Your coworker blabbed. I know." Aden sighs. "I understand that you're scared, but you're going about this the wrong way."

I roll my eyes despite the truth in his words. "What are you, a love guru now?"

"I'm just giving you a guy's perspective on this," he patiently answers. "You're ruining the trust in your friendship with the guy you like plus if you're not careful, you could get really tangled with the guy's brother."

"They have names, you know. Axel and Reno."

I can picture him rolling his eyes and mouthing a "whatever" to himself. "Get out of the relationship you're in with…Axel?"

_I wish._ "Reno."

"Reno. Right. Get out of that relationship and be honest with the other one."

"Axel."

"Right."

"No."

Whatever prepared response he had froths away. "What do you mean 'no'?" he sputters.

"He's not serious about girls," I explain. "Did Demyx tell you about how he used to bring a new girl back to their dorm nearly every week?"

"Yeah."

"There you go. He's a player."

He asks skeptically, "Has he admitted to sleeping with those girls?"

My heart sinks. "Yes."

"Has he been continuing to sleep with different girls behind your back or has he been flirting with other girls when you're not around?"

"How should I know?" I grimace. "I don't ask him those things."

Aden hums thoughtfully. I can almost hear his brain ticking. "I think it's time you and Axel had a heart-to-heart."

I huff to cover up the tendril of fear writhing in my stomach. "And I think I should get back to working on my analysis."

"Imani, seriously. Talk to him," Aden says. "Break up with Reno and talk to him. It'll be better if he hears your feelings for him from you first."

Repeatedly I run the suggestion through my head before telling him, "Don't work too hard, okay?"

He sighs. "Same to you. Love ya."

"Love ya more."

As I hang up I notice the little "voice message" icon at the bottom of my phone screen.

_Wow. I completely forgot about the messages._

Figuring I could use a little more rest to think of things to write in my analysis and unable to resist the spark of curiosity in my chest, I speed-dial my message inbox and place the phone to my ear once more.

* * *

I am very glad both Kairi and Namine are out with their respective boyfriends. They'd never let me live it down if they saw me like this: buried completely under the covers of my bed in a fetal position, holding on to my phone with both hands for dear life.

_"Imani. It's Axel. Pick up."_

Seven voice messages. All from him.

_"Pick up the phone. I'm warning you."_

His voice…

_"You wanna know two things I don't like? People who _don't pick up their stupid phones_ and running around on wild goose chases. Call me back."_

There's this ascension in his sultry voice hiding behind the jokes and the lightheartedness.

_"Imani, if you don't pick up, I'm gonna assume you're either avoiding me or you're…I don't know. Just pick up already. I've been searching all over for you."_

He didn't sound nearly this worried when he came to the dorm that day and found me hiding under my bed.

_"Do you just not like talking to people over the phone? Why aren't you answering?"_

I hardly see him display these emotions etched in his voice whenever I see him face-to-face.

_"…Are you mad at me?"_

Worry, insecurity…

_"So Demyx doesn't know what the hell's going on and I just talked to Namine and she doesn't know either. You're driving me crazy, Imani. I feel like I'm missing something…am I?"_

Fear.

I shut the phone after listening to each message ten times…only to reopen the phone and dial my inbox again for the third time. I just don't understand.

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **Did that explain everything? If you've got any questions, I'll try clearing things up more in the next chapter. Just leave a review. (Even if you don't have questions, a review would be nice. Heh.)

As for titles, I'm deciding between **_Floating on Fire _**(courtesy of **Zemyx-AkuRoku**)and **_Memoirs of the Emotionally Stupid_**. Any preferences?

I predict this story will wrap up in a chapter or two. I'm a little sad, but it'd be great to move on to other projects (like a **sequel to _The Kismet Scribe_**). Let me know how I'm doing, please! Thanks for reading!


	16. When My Best Friend Yells At Me

**Author's Comments: **Thank you for your patience and your reviews! I didn't want to upload the next chapter too soon--I wanted to hear what you thought and possibly see if I needed to improve or be more specific in some areas. I'm always very, very happy when I get your feedback! Hope you enjoy reading!

P.S.--As of the next chapter, I will change the title to **_Memoirs of the Emotionally Stupid_** and including the phrase **_Floating on Fire_** in the summary. Be sure to look out for it!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Reno. I own Imani and Aden.

* * *

"Imani, stop."

I look up from the report I'd been writing. "Stop what?"

"This." Demyx waves a hand at me. "This is driving everyone crazy."

_"You're driving me crazy, Imani."_

"And what's...'this'?" I ask, setting down my pen.

He carefully props up his sitar against the queen-sized bed, scooting closer and staring at me intently. "You're a _zombie_. You go about every day lifelessly—work, school, us, _Reno_…" His nose scrunches up at the name. "We're all blending into one big haze to you. Ah! No! Don't deny it. It's making us worried."

Demyx often gestures a lot when talking. The bigger the gestures, the more anxious he is…so the wild hand-waving and arm-swinging probably means he's _really_ anxious.

"You're worrying over nothing," I reassure. "I'm fine. I've just finally found my groove again."

"Your _groove?_ You mean your groove of the _living dead?"_ he sighs. "Did Aden give you _any_ advice when you two talked a few weeks ago?"

"He told me to break up with Reno and talk to Axel." I go back to writing.

Snatching my notebook and pen (and making me draw a big black line down the middle of the page), he accuses, "You haven't done either of those things."

"I don't have to follow Aden's advice all the time," I reason, moving out to grab back my things. He keeps holding them out of my reach, to my irritation. "Cut it out, Dem. I don't have time for this."

Demyx lobs my pen and notebook behind him and grabs my wrists. "That's what Axel said."

I stop struggling, looking up at him. "Axel?"

"Yeah. Axel. Remember him?" He scoffs, pointing a finger at me repeatedly. "The guy you're in _love_ with? The guy you're _lying_ to? The guy who's dragging his feet everywhere and who barely jokes about anything anymore because of you?"

"H-He _does_ joke!" I argue, pulling away from his grasp. "We were joking together just yesterday about Seifer! And he doesn't drag his feet!"

"It's a _façade_, dammit!" he yells, leaping off the bed and pacing around frantically. "He's putting up a façade in front of you!"

"What makes you so sure?" I demand, getting on my feet.

He points a finger to me. "Whenever you're not around he's sighing and moping and he doesn't notice anything going on around him!"

I flinch at the cartwheels in my stomach. "S-Stop…"

"No, _you_ stop." He grabs my shoulders, giving me a slight shake. "Stop going out with Reno and talk to Axel and tell him you love him!"

"You need to stop bringing my hopes up!" I shout. "Telling him that would only boost his ego and—"

"Have you _seen_ how he acts around you?!" he shouts back. "The last thing on his mind is his ego! He's _never_ thought about that, not even when he isn't with you!"

I bark out a laugh. "Really? Then what _is_ he thinking about?"

"YOU!" he screams into my face. "HE'S THINKING ABOUT YOU!!"

My eyes widen. The edges of his pupils sharpen in rage and harsh breaths splay onto me. He's _never_ been this angry before.

"Dammit." He backs away, the steam slipping out of him. "And here I thought you were the most observant person in the world."

I swallow thickly, standing and taking in his words. _Axel thinks about me that much?_

"Look, just...just talk to him, okay?" he begs, rubbing his face tiredly. "Please?"

I don't know how to answer so I don't. I try to take a step, my feet as heavy as lead. Once I build up enough momentum, I gather my things and run for the door. I almost don't catch Demyx muttering to himself, "Screw this secretive crap."

* * *

Belle wipes down the counter while chatting with Olette. "So how's your father doing?" Olette asks.

"He's doing fine," she smiles.

"That's good." Olette smiles back.

She gives an "uh-huh" before squeezing around us to get to the back. "I'm gonna go wipe tables."

Olette and I nod as she disappears from the kitchen. "So how are you doing?" Olette asks me, resuming her chopping of a few apples. "You've been going through a lot these past few weeks."

"I'm fine," I shrug. "Everyone else seems to think otherwise, though."

She watches me carefully for a second or two before turning her attention back to the fruit. "If you say so," she says.

Now why can't more people be like Olette? She doesn't ever push for answers.

"…You know what?" A sad smile tugs at my mouth and Olette stops chopping. "I'm not fine."

She turns to me with a patient sigh. "Go on, but only if you want to."

I glance at the front to make sure no customers are waiting. "Demyx got really angry at me today. He said Axel's always thinking about me."

She doesn't show that she's surprised. "Do you believe him?"

"He's never gotten so angry about anything before and he's never lied to me…not successfully, anyway."

"And what if it's true?"

"That's the thing." I sigh, shoving my hands into my apron pockets. "What does it mean if it's true? What am I supposed to do?"

She hums thoughtfully, chopping a little slower than before. "Have you tried talking to Axel about it?"

"N-No, but everyone's been telling me to do that."

"Why haven't you?"

I moan, knocking my head against the wall behind me. "I'm scared it'll ruin whatever friendship we have."

Olette remains quiet for a minute, scooping the fruit into a huge Ziploc bag. "From what I've heard about you two," she says, "I think your relationship wouldn't crumble from a conversation like that. I think it might _strengthen_ it."

I draw my eyebrows together confusedly. "Strengthen it?"

"Yeah." She smiles encouragingly. "I really think so."

Stepping closer, I eye her suspiciously. "Do you know something I don't?"

She shrugs. "I don't know something you don't think I know."

"…Huh?"

"Just talk to Axel." She peels off her gloves and slides the Ziploc bag shut, leaving me to gape at the wall and try to figure out what the heck's going on.

_I guess that's why she's a Psychology major,_ I sigh after five minutes of no success. _She knows how to twist my brain and make it hurt so that I all I can remember is her advice._

* * *

I gape at the still upper half of a woman encased in a large glass box and dressed in starry robes and a bandanna over her long dark hair. Her mysterious smile and her blank slanted eyes stare past me, her hands hovering over five cards.

Slowly, I turn to Kairi and jab a finger at the box. "You get your fortunes from a _coin machine?_"

"Only when I'm in a rush and I can't schedule an appointment with the real Esmeralda," she corrects, waving a hand casually.

"But this is a machine!" I cry. "It's not the same as a real live fortune teller!"

She quirks an eyebrow. "Since when have you been so picky?"

Before I can lash out, I exhale my smart comment away. "I'm sorry. I just…I've never done this before. I still can't believe I agreed to this."

Kairi pats me on the back while pushing me closer to the machine. "Trust me. It's worth it."

"Whatever," I mumble under my breath, fishing out my wallet from my bag. "I still think it's psychological. Olette agrees with me, by the way."

"Because of her major." She rolls her eyes but her lips curl in a fond smile. "If you keep thinking that way, then what are we doing here?"

I insert the coins into the slots, shaking my head. "I'm desperate, I guess."

"Desperate for _what?_" The machine buzzes to life when I press the button. "We've been telling you to talk to Axel and to break up with Reno for ages. What are you coming to Esmeralda for?"

I can hardly fathom the word coming from my mouth. "Confirmation."

Esmeralda's hands move mechanically over the cards as her voice travels through the speakers, "_I see strife and turmoil swirling in your heart…_"

My eyebrows shoot up.

"_You're struggling with the flames of a long-harbored love…_"

Kairi nods.

"_Give up your battle, child. Your worry is for naught._" Esmeralda blinks. "_Instead of fighting _against_ your love, fight _for_ it."_

The box stops buzzing and her hands cease moving. "See?" Kairi lightly swats my shoulder. "I told you she's good."

"But this is a machine!" I wave my hands at it. "How the heck does a freaking _machine_ know about my love life that well?"

"It's destiny." She winks. "Commit it to memory."

* * *

Reno squeezes my limp hand as we head out of the diner. "Something wrong, babe?"

"Nothing," I want to blurt out if not for the fortune teller's words that keep ringing in my head.

_"Instead of fighting _against_ your love, fight _for_ it."_

Gulping down my nerves, I slow to a stop in front of his car, inhaling deeply and turning to his curious face. "I…I want to break up."

His thin eyebrows shoot up almost past his goggles. "What?"

I cringe, slipping my fingers from his. "I said I want to break up."

He gapes in stunned silence. Soon, though, incredulous laughter makes his shoulders shake and an almost crazed grin spreads on his face. "You know what'll happen if you break up with me, right?"

Carefully steeling my face from letting any heat burst onto my cheeks, I declare, "I'm going to tell him myself."

"Oh _really?_"

"Really."

"Fine."

My determined mask slips and shatters on the pavement. "W-What?"

"Fine, yo." Reno shoves his hands into his coat pockets. "It was kinda obvious from the start that this wouldn't get anywhere unless you finally confessed to him, yo."

It's my turn to gape. "T-That's it?" I sputter. "Y-Y-You're okay with us breaking up?"

"As long as you're really gonna tell him."

"I-I will…"

His head tilts upward slightly as if he wants to nod but he suddenly stops. "…On second, thought, no." He quirks an eyebrow, his grin now playful. "You gotta make it _official_."

My face twists in confusion. "Make what official?" I ask cautiously.

"You and me breakin' up. You gotta say something cheesy and cliché, yo."

"Oh, heck no! Don't make me do that!" I plead.

"C'mon! Do it!" He grabs my hand again, clasping it tightly as if to corner me more. "Otherwise we're still an item."

Biting my lip, I flip through my memory for the most cliché movie break-up line I can think of. "Okay, I thought of something," I mumble reluctantly.

He swings our hands side to side. "Go for it, yo."

I clear my throat, plastering on a serious frown. "Reno, I want to break up."

He gasps silently, his face written in pure shock and heartbreak as he drops my hand. "What? I thought you loved me!"

"I _do_," I can hardly keep the smile off my face, "but…not the way you want me to."

"Did…" He looks away, his eyes downcast, and I snort to myself. "Did I do something wrong?"

"It's not you, it's me—" My laughter explodes from my chest. I throw my head back, beaming to the sky and laughing the hardest I've ever laughed in a long time.

"Aw, you _ruined _it, yo!" Reno's laughing, too, breaking out of his character. "That was good enough, I guess."

Between laughs I ask, "What did you say you were majoring in?"

He pulls out his car key and jams it in the door. "Theater."

"Ah," I giggle as I stumble to the other side. "That makes sense."

"Axel thought about majoring in theater, too, but when he heard I was majoring in it, he scrapped the idea." He rolls his eyes. "He's nowhere near as good as me, anyway. He can hardly act in front of you to save his life, yo."

My heart skips a beat. "What was that?"

"Nothing." His long hair sways with his shaking head. "I'll drop ya off at school."

We both plop in the car comfortably. The smile on my face doesn't seem like it'll disappear anytime soon. _One down, one more to go._

"You know," I lean on the middle partition conspiratorially, "_Selphie's_ single right now. She actually can't stop talking about you at work."

His eyes light up. "Really?" he asks coyly, a feral smirk quickly appearing as he revs up the engine.

I match his grin. "She loves petunias."

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **And there you go! Things are starting to head into a different direction for Imani. You have to keep reading to find out whether things will turn out alright for her, though.

When describing the Esmeralda machine, I was trying to use the Disneyland coin machine as my example. The appearance of the Esmeralda coin machine in the story is supposed to be exactly like the one in the theme park. I've never actually operated the machine before so I don't know how she gives her fortunes--I'm always busy standing in line for my favorite rides.

No, I'm **not** **advocating a Reno and Selphie romance** thing necessarily. I just wanted Imani to suggest someone else for Reno to start dating and Selphie was the first person to come to my head.

Please leave a review! Thank you for reading!


	17. When He Sets It Straight

**Author's Comments: **Hello! Updated a little sooner than I normally do. This is officially the second-to-the-last chapter! A little sad, huh? A lot of things will come together in this chapter. Hope you enjoy reading!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I own Imani.

* * *

It took me three days to break up with Reno. I wasn't too busy—I saw him on all three of those days, but I couldn't garner the courage to say those five words.

A groan rumbles my ribs as I trudge up the stairs to my Anatomy class. At this rate, it'll probably take me three _months_ to confess to Axel. I could barely keep my nerves still and my heart must have been trying to pound nine-inch nails into my chest at record speed. His voice makes me want to _melt_, dammit.

"Um, excuse me?"

I halt at the voice, turning to find the curly-haired girl who was in my office for some splinters on her fingers a while ago. "It's you," I state dumbly.

"Hi," she smiles. "Imani, right?"

"Yes," I nod slowly. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yeah, actually…" She glances around a bit nervously. "Do you have time to talk?"

My free hand digs around in my bag for my cell phone. "I have…ten minutes," I read off.

"Good." She walks to a nearby bench and motions for me to sit. "I just wanted to apologize about last time," she says. "I think my questions made everything a little awkward."

_Just a little. Yeah._

"It's okay," I smile stiffly, sitting down next to her. "You were just curious, right?"

Her curls bob as she nods. "My friends and I have known him since he first started going here. We're all in the same graduating class. He would bring each of us one at a time to his dorm—"

"Wait," I freeze. "He…_You're_ one of the girls he nailed?!"

The girl's eyes widen to the size of dinner plates. "N-Nailed?!" she cries in panic. "No! No no no! He didn't do that to any of us!"

"What?" I reel back, completely shocked. "But…but he said…"

_"None of the girls I nailed could last _every_ night."_

"He said he slept with us?" She laughs nervously. "He only brought us back so he could practice his massaging."

My mouth hangs open. _Massaging?!_

"We met him at freshman orientation and he was in a lot of our classes," she explains, her no-longer-bandaged fingers fiddling with her book bag strap. "None of us were really close to him, but he'd told us about his new job at Radiant Garden and asked if we could be his practice dummies."

"Then…" I can't stop blinking. "Why didn't he just say so?"

"He wanted to keep up a certain image, I guess?" The girl shrugs.

_What about the story with Larxene? Was he lying about that, too?_

"That's why I was asking those questions," she sighs. "We just got a little confused about why he was spending so much time around this _one_ girl."

A dull pang starts to press into my chest. _He lied to me._

"I should get going," the girl says, standing up. "I hope things are clear between us."

I nod silently, standing up myself and dragging my feet to class. _He lied to me…_

* * *

Namine sighs. "Imani, I understand that you feel a little…_betrayed_, but isn't it a good thing that he didn't actually sleep with all those girls?"

"I know," I grumble, poking at my salad with my plastic fork.

"Is there really any reason for you to be moping around this much?"

"I'm not moping."

"Of course you aren't."

I leer at the cherry tomatoes and the bits of lettuce. All this time I've been thinking Axel was a horny flirt who wanted to get into bed with as many girls as he can because of the whole kicking-Demyx-out-of-the-dorm-to-sleep-with-a-girl thing. I've been using that as an explanation as to why he does all those odd things to me. Now I find out that was a lie _he _made up.

_I don't know how to explain his behavior anymore_, I sigh. _I feel like I don't know him. _

"Hello? Axel? It's Namine."

I give a start, my salad bowl nearly toppling from my lap and onto the grass. "What are you doing?!" I hiss.

"I was wondering if you could do me a favor later today," she tells Axel, quickly getting up and scurrying off before I can snatch her phone away and hang up. "Yeah, could you…"

Suppressing another groan, I smash the plastic bubble cover on the bowl. I've officially lost the little appetite I had.

* * *

I spin my pen on its ink point, drawing a tiny black dot into my injury report form. According to Namine, Axel is supposed to drop in sometime during my shift.

_"You've strung this out for as long as you can. You have to face the music now."_

_"But—"_

_"Don't make me tell Demyx to crash your private conversation and sing 'Kiss the Girl' from _The Little Mermaid._ Don't."_

A long sigh gusts through my lungs and past my lips. I really don't think I should be confessing to a guy I find very confusing. What if he uses my confusion against me? Has he been doing that this whole time?

"Imani?"

With that one word my heart kicks into fourth gear. As I turn to the door, my breath gets caught in my throat and my nerves sizzle in my stomach. Axel leans easily against the doorframe.

"Namine said you wanted to talk," he says, hooking his thumbs into the belt loops of his jeans.

My eyes lock with his. I'm staring at the guy who wrapped his arms around me and saved me from the creep who was harassing me, the guy who let me sleep in his lap after I acted completely drunk for an hour and a half, the guy who held my hand to keep me warm on the way to my dorm, the guy who tugged me into his lap to scare off Seifer, the guy who left a party to watch me sleep, the guy who kissed me at midnight, the guy who cleaned the potato off my face, the guy who left seven frantic voice messages and seventeen stalker-like text messages on my phone, the guy who brought me my homework and chicken noodle soup when I was sick, the guy who said he was fine with me going out with his brother as long as I was happy…

Axel. _Axel._ The guy I couldn't ever hope to return my feelings.

I take a deep breath, steadying my gaze into his green beautiful eyes and swallowing the "I love you" I just _know_ will slip out if I'm not careful. "You lied to me."

He blinks owlishly. "I lied to you?"

_I love your eyes._

Clutching my pen in one hand, I mentally command myself to _breathe_. "When I first met you, you told me you slept with a new girl nearly every week when you were sharing a dorm with Demyx. That was a lie."

His jaw—his sharp, _angular_ jaw unhinges but nothing comes out.

_I love your face._

"Was taking Larxene back to your dorm to sleep with her a lie, too?" I ask, clenching my jaw against the sting in my eyes. "Did you really just practice your massaging on her?"

The stunned slump in his shoulders tells me everything. "Who told you I was lying?"

_I _love_ your voice._

"That doesn't matter." I shake my head sadly, my shoulders slumping as well. "Why would you lie about something like that?"

His eyes flick to the side as he timidly—timidly?—walks into the room. "Honestly, you were the one who started it." An awkward chuckle. "You assumed I slept with them."

_I love your laugh._

"But you confirmed it!" I jump to my feet, waving my hands at him in a partial effort to get rid of all the nervous adrenaline in my veins. All the while, the sting builds up more and more. "If it wasn't true, why didn't you say so?!"

His chuckles grow incredulous. "What does it matter to you whether I sleep with other girls or not?"

Not much. It killed my sense of self-appreciation when I think about how you treat other girls. That's all.

"It…It just _does,_ okay?"

He gestures wildly. "But you're going out with Reno!"

"But you're my friend!" My vision's getting blurrier. "All this time, I thought you had serious ego issues with girls!"

"And now that you know I _don't_," he growls lowly, "does that make me any less of a friend to you?!"

_I love how I can picture your face perfectly even when I can't see you._

"Friends don't lie to each other!" I shoot back, the declaration leaving a bitter taste in my mouth as Reno pops into my head. "Even if it was a misunderstanding, you should've corrected it!"

His shoulders and his eyebrows just barely twitch. "F-Friends…"

"_Friends_," I snarl, spitting out my most hated word. "That's what we are, right? _Friends._"

His lips twist into a grimace and he groans. "You want the truth? Fine. FINE! I lied because I didn't want to get my hopes up."

_I loved how your lips felt._

My nails dig into my palms as I clench my hands to stop myself from ripping my hair out. "Get your hopes up for _what?!_"

"For _you_, okay?" He sighs exasperatedly, a tinge of color staining his cheeks. "I didn't want to get my hopes up for _you_."

I stop short, my tirade leaving me slightly breathless. "W…What?"

"I…" Axel rakes his hands through his fiery hair and his face twists in frustration. "W-Why do you think I kept saying we were friends?"

_I love the way you touch me. I love the way your fingers leave trails of fire on my skin._

"What? Was that _another_ lie?!" I yell.

"I keep saying it because I have to keep _convincing_ myself," he snaps.

I throw my head back in raucous acidic laughter, each sound bouncing off the walls unashamedly. "Convincing yourself?! What the hell are you saying?!"

His face hardens with that freaking weird expression I can never place my finger on. In all seriousness he declares quietly, "I've never thought of you as a friend."

_But I hate how nothing you do seems to make sense._

He could've pulled out a gun and shot me in the heart. Either way the tears would've started really streaming down my face. _Damn _it. _Damn _you, Axel. You and your lies and the way you made me a total wreck.

"So that night at Luxord's and bringing my homework to my dorm and staying for a whole _hour_ while I was asleep…" I glare at him, the volume in my voice increasing with every word, "The new year's kiss, protecting me from the drunk, putting up with me when _I_ was drunk…all that crap! You were doing those things because _what?!_ Because you were _bored?! _Because you felt _obligated?!_"

"Because—gah, shit!"

In less than a second his warm hands grab the sides of my face and he yanks me towards him, pressing his lips to mine.

_…I love the way you kiss._

Before I can kiss back, he pulls away with a huff. "Got it memorized?" he growls. "Or do I have to spell it out for you?"

Heat floods my face and I nearly drown, wide-eyed and speechless.

"I. Love. You. Dammit." He closes his eyes and leans his forehead into mine. "Ever since that night at Luxord's. Maybe even before then."

Wide-eyed, speechless, and thoroughly shocked. _T-That long?!_

All too soon he draws back, a frown on his flushed face. "But that wouldn't matter to you since you're going out with _Reno._"

The name wires my brain to my mouth again and I blurt, "I'm not."

Axel blinks. "You're…not?"

"I broke up with him yesterday," I mumble.

"…Really? W-Why?" he asks, despite the—dare I say it—_hopeful_ light in his eyes. "I thought you said you liked him."

Licking my lips, I give a half-shrug. "Yeah, I like him. He's pretty funny, actually."

"So—"

"But I love you."

His jaw drops and he goes bug-eyed. "Wha?"

"I…I love you." Should I dial for an ambulance? I think I might overheat if this keeps up. "Since before New Year's Eve."

He tilts his head to one side in confusion. "But why did you go out with Reno?"

I swallow nervously. "It's a long story…"

He seems to want to ask more but he settles for a shrug, his face coming closer to mine again. "You can tell me later. I don't feel like listening to it."

"O-Okay, then." I blink. "Really?"

"Yeah." A devilish smirk breaks across his face. "I feel like doing something else."

Instead of shoving him away, I take that final step closer and claim his lips, grinning all the while.

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **Ugh. I'm not very happy about how I finished, but I can't think of another way to get them to reconcile. What did you think? Is it a little too rushed?

I have a few shout-outs to make…  
**Twilight-Angel-XIII**: Hey, hey, hey! I did it! Thanks for your patience! How'd you think it turned out?  
**Zemyx-AkuRoku**: Didja see the new summary? I love that phrase you gave me! Thanks for letting me use it!

Thank you to everyone who's been leaving reviews! You have no idea how much I appreciate the support and the feedback. I hope you look forward to the last chapter! I'm working on it right now! Please leave a review and tell me what you think. Thanks for reading!


	18. When I Let Myself Fall

**Author's Comments: **Here it is, guys: the last chapter. Thanks so much for sticking with this story from start to finish. I didn't really know what I was doing at first, but your support gave me all the motivation to push through and see it through. Hope you enjoy reading the last installment of this story!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Reno. I own Imani and Aden.

* * *

Warmth everywhere. As I slip back into consciousness, all I can recognize is comfortable _warmth_. It's wrapped all around me, embracing me tightly and breathing softly.

…Breathing?

Slowly my senses begin to register little details. The air smells faintly of spicy cologne. Whatever's hugging me is soft and rather solid. The sheets don't feel as thick as my bed covers.

Then, I remember. My lips curl into a small smile.

"Are you up?" his voice murmurs in my ear.

I hum my "yes," burying my face further into his torso. "The question is how long have _you_ been up?" I ask. "Were you watching me sleep?"

His chest rumbles. "Guilty."

"What's so interesting about me being asleep?"

"You snore."

My head jerks away as I blink sleepily to glare at him. "I do not."

Axel smirks down at me, his tattoos scrunching up just a little. "Of course you don't."

"Are you being sarcastic?" I arch an eyebrow beneath my messy bangs.

"Who?" He tilts his head playfully. "Me?"

"I _don't_ snore," I tell him…while secretly reassuring myself.

With a chuckle, he pulls me back to his torso. "I know you don't. I was kidding."

The smart retort I had planned melts away with his warmth. I sigh, snuggling into him. "What time is it?"

"Who cares?" he drawls, his words turning into a yawn. "It's the weekend."

Rolling my eyes, I gently push away from him against his embrace to get out of bed. "Well, _some_ people have to work."

He blinks. "On Valentine's Eve?"

I snort. "Valentine's Eve? What the heck is that?"

"The day before Valentine's Day," he states matter-of-factly, keeping a firm grip on my wrist. "Duh."

The covers slide down as I sit up and reluctantly I realize that leaving the bed means leaving the really comfortable warmth. Suppressing my shiver at the cool air, I start to pry off his fingers. "Well it's not like today or tomorrow is a really huge holiday that allows workers the chance to stay home and sleep in or whatever."

"You're saying Valentine's Day isn't a huge holiday?" His lips frown. "You're so unromantic."

"And you're going to make me late if you don't let me go."

"Aw, c'mon, Imani. Do you _really_ have to go?"

"I have to pay off my tuition somehow." I scowl. His stupid fingers won't come off! "I don't have a prestigious internship that pays well and offers _spectacular_ career growth like you do."

"Can't you miss just one day?" he whines, sitting up to nuzzle his face into the crook of my neck and shoulder. "We barely did _anything_ last night."

"We did plenty last night!" I sigh, flicking my eyes to a corner of the room to help even my breathing and divert my attention from how nice it feels to have him so close and openly intimate. "After you got us both kicked out from the nurse's office for…y-you know…"

"For what?" he asks innocently. "For doing this, you mean?"

My heart leaps as his lips start moving against my skin sensually, his little moans making me blush hard. "S-Stop, Axel."

He purrs, "You don't really mean that. Just keep going. I'm listening."

Axel snickers against my throat as I swallow nervously and my face flames up. "You dragged me to the store to buy ingredients for quiche," I stammer, all the while reminding myself to breathe between thoughts, "dragged me here and made me teach you how to make quiche, and then dragged me to the living room to watch a movie while the quiche baked and set."

"I'm not sure I like how you worded your summary of last night."

"You kept trying to distract me! I almost put in too much nutmeg and I only caught bits and pieces of the movie!"

"Well you kept letting yourself get distracted."

"See? We did _plenty_ last night. I was so tired I couldn't argue against you when you made me stay the night."

"But all we did was just hugging and kissing." Without removing his lips he sets his free hand down on my other side, trapping me between him and the headboard of his bed. "I wanna do _more._"

"Igottago!" I cry, pushing him off me and dashing for the door before he snatches my wrist and keeps me in bed any longer.

"God, Imani!" he calls after me. "You're always ruining the moment!"

* * *

I slump into a squeaky plastic chair, plopping my plate of today's special (Olette's famous beef and broccoli) onto the wooden table. After a two-hour run of customers coming in nonstop, Tifa finally let me take a break.

I did _not_ like the knowing look in her eyes. Or Olette's. Or Selphie's or Kairi's or Namine's.

_News travels way too fast around here. _I scowl, stabbing a piece of meat with my fork and sticking it in my mouth.

Throughout the entire two-hour run, my lap kept vibrating with incoming text messages to my phone. As I savor Olette's special, I reach into my apron and pull out my phone, flipping it open.

_Twenty-five new text messages._

"You're kidding me," I mutter under my breath, my scowl deepening. Very reluctantly, I start reading them off from the earliest one sent.

_FINALLY._

I shake my head, snorting quietly and deleting the message. Leave it to Demyx to get the first word in.

_I'm SO over being the friend EVERYONE comes to for a listening ear._

…And the second.

_You owe me ALL the details when you get back from work. And you have to admit that Esmeralda's predictions are NOT psychological. 3_

Delete. I roll my eyes.

_I'm so happy for you two! _

Though Namine's text lacks any comments with attitude, I can just picture her smiling like a fox that's tricked the hunter.

_Dem told me. I hate to say I told you so but…_

"You told me so," I sigh with a laugh. "And you finally figured out how to text."

_Congrats on finally hooking up with Axel. Took you long enough._

"No one asked you, Riku." Delete.

_Congrats! ;)_

_Finally. -.-_

_About time one of you fessed up. XP_

Delete times thirteen. How did all these people even know about any of this?

"If _Cloud _and _Leon_ have been keeping up with this, then I must have been _seriously_ screwed up," I mutter to myself, eyebrows raised. "Same goes for Luxord's _coworkers_."

_Heard you and Ax are an item, yo. Just remember I don't wanna be an uncle anytime soon. ;D_

_Congrats, Imani! Now Reno's free!_

Delete, delete. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to suggest Selphie to Reno…

_Please tell I'm not the only one who got the texts._

A smile grows on my face as I set down my fork and push the plate to the side. So Axel's phone got bombarded, too.

_I miss you. Tell your boss to let you out early._

"I wish," I laugh.

_Hurry up and take a break so you can call or text me! I'm so BORED._

Jeez. He's so impatient.

_Don't make me start that stalking crap again._

"Oh heck no," I mutter under my breath, opening a new message and typing as quickly as I can with the small buttons, _Can't you wait another four hours? I'm not even halfway done with my shift._

Not thirty seconds after I sent the message does my phone start to vibrate noisily against the table. _FOUR HOURS? What the hell am I supposed to do for four hours?_

_I don't know. Homework? Work for your internship?_

_The whole point of a day off is to TAKE A BREAK from work. _

_Ex-CUSE me. They were just suggestions—_

"Imani," Tifa calls quietly from the door. "If you're done, we need your help in the front."

"Okay," I answer without glancing away from my phone or halting my fingers. "Be right there."

"We know you love him but stop flirting with your boyfriend!"

In mock-anger, I shout back as I stand, "I'm still mad at you, Selphie!"

* * *

Two seconds after I knock on Axel's door, I find myself being dragged inside by my wrist and straight into his chest, smashing my nose. The door slams shut behind me and his arms magnetically latch around my back.

"You missed me that much, huh?" I ask nasally, rubbing my nose and peering up at him.

"Those were the longest six hours of my entire life," he grumbles into my hair. "I don't wanna even think about surviving my shifts at the hospital."

Chuckling, I lean against him comfortably. "You'll live."

"You don't sound like you missed me as much as I missed you." Suspicion laces his sultry—I can finally admit it without feeling too embarrassed!—voice.

"I _did_ miss you." A bit of heat rushes to my face as I confess.

"…Really?"

"Really!"

He smirks against my shoulder. "Prove it."

My brow furrows. "Prove it how?"

"Be creative." His smirk widens.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I scoff.

"It means…" he starts rubbing circles into the small of my back, "be _creative._"

Fire bursts on my face and my heart skips several beats in the midst of its erratic pace. "Axel…" I moan in despair, burying my face into his chest further. "I can't do that. It's embarrassing."

"What?" he laughs. "It's just _me._"

I bite my lip. "That's why it's so embarrassing."

"Then we'll have to work your way out of being embarrassed," he coos. "We have all night."

"You sound like a horny pervert when you say that."

"You know I'm right. And you know you like it."

I didn't think it'd be possible to blush harder, but apparently I was wrong.

"Think of it as an early start to Valentine's day." With that he captures my lips.

_"You're going to meet someone really special tonight!"_

I smile into the kiss, remembering Kairi's words from two months ago. Yeah. He is someone special. If I weren't so emotionally stupid, I would've realized it sooner.

His arms pull me in closer. He's so warm.

* * *

**Author's Afterthought: **Thank you to my readers who left reviews (**Dance of Flame**, **SHADOWoftheFOX**, **Twilight-Angel-XIII**, **Zemyx-AkuRoku**, **Less-Then-3**, **Piper-Knight**, **Sleepihead**, **musicalpickle**, **WickedlyMe**, **oddsoul**, **kmkm89**, and **Bstar94**) and gave me such helpful support and suggestions. Thank you to you readers who didn't leave a review yet continued to read the story. I truly appreciate everything!

If you haven't yet, please take some time to read _The Kismet Scribe_, Imani's original story. I know it's long and that it starts painfully slow, but I promise that it picks up as it goes along. (There are no blatant romantic relationships, but the story turned out surprisingly...uh...insightful?)

Be on the look-out for any new stories I might spring up on you! I'm already working on one, but I'm a little hesitant to post it right now. Some of the content is a little dubious since certain parts of Imani's memory hasn't quite been available to me yet. (Did that make sense? I don't want to give too much away while explaining...)

Once again, thank you! I had so much fun writing this! Please leave a review to let me know what your thoughts are!


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